Jack van Poortvliet out of Rugby World Cup with surgical procedure required on ankle damage
Northampton scrum-half Mitchell joined England’s coaching camp at Pennyhill Park in Bagshot this morning, after Leicester star Van Poortvliet limped out of Saturday’s madcap 19-17 victory over Wales at Twickenham.
Van Poortvliet would require surgical procedure on his ankle drawback and has been swiftly changed in England’s line-up for France.
“It’s really bad luck for Jack, and we send him our very best wishes for a swift and successful recovery,” sand England boss Steve Borthwick.
Van Poortvliet trudged out of Saturday’s Wales conflict within the first-half, having landed awkwardly after leaping to keep away from team-mate Ollie Lawrence. The 22-year-old stood a positive likelihood of beginning in England’s strongest XV on the World Cup, and his absence will show a bitter blow to Borthwick.
England’s coaches view Van Poortvliet as providing essentially the most balanced all-round sport from the scrum-halves at their disposal, and his technical skills would have been central to the Red Rose strategy.
The returning Mitchell will now bounce straight into choice competition alongside Youngs and Danny Care for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up Test journey to Dublin to face Ireland.
The Northampton playmaker can depend himself unfortunate to have missed out on England’s preliminary World Cup choice, and can provide zip and tempo from the breakdown.
The 26-year-old was a part of England’s wider coaching squad throughout a gruelling pre-season, so is already in control on boss Borthwick and new assault coach Richard Wigglesworth’s plans.
“Alex played in the Six Nations, he was involved in four of the five games during the Six Nations,” mentioned Borthwick. “I’ve asked all of the players on standby to stay ready if needed to come into the squad at any point.”
England will begin their World Cup marketing campaign by dealing with Argentina in Marseille on Saturday, September 9.
Borthwick’s males have simply two extra warm-up matches earlier than taking up the Pumas, with a conflict in opposition to Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday, August 26 following this weekend’s journey to Dublin to tackle Ireland.