Van Poortvliet out of World Cup as Mitchell comes in for England
England will be without one of their key players in next month’s Rugby World Cup as scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet suffered an injury to his ankle in Saturday’s 19-17 win over Wales at Twickenham.
The Leicester Tigers No9 was aided off the field and will undergo surgery.
He has been replaced by Northampton Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell in Steve Borthwick’s 33-man squad for the World Cup.
“It’s really bad luck for Jack, and we send him our very best wishes for a swift and successful recovery,” Borthwick said after the news was announced.
Leicester Tigers’ social media accounts simply said of Van Poortvliet’s exit: “Gutted”.
England are now set to travel across the channel with Mitchell, Leicester’s Ben Youngs and Harlequins’ Danny Care.
Mitchell is by far the least experienced player out of the three nines. The scrum-half has four caps to Youngs’ 122 and Care’s 88.
Mitchell brings the average age down to 31, being the only option in his 20s.