MITCH BACK IN THE FOLD
STEVE BORTHWICK could be handed a much-needed boost by the return of half-back Alex Mitchell before the end of the Six Nations.
And the England head coach is hopeful fly-half Marcus Smith will be back too.
Scrum-half Mitchell injured his knee in training and missed Saturday’s Calcutta Cup humbling by Scotland and the initial prognosis was his championship was over.
But Borthwick (inset) revealed the Northampton man, who started wins over Italy and
Wales, is making progress and will be assessed when the squad meet in
York tomorrow.
Smith injured his calf in a pre-six Nations get-together in Girona and has not featured but the coach insisted he was on track to play.
Borthwick could do with some good tidings after the 30-21 beating by Scotland with Grand Slam-chasing Ireland heading to Twickenham a week on Saturday.
He said: “We have got positive news on Alex Mitchell’s injury. We are hopeful he will feature in the latter part of this tournament – whether that’s the next game, we’re not sure, but we are hopeful he will be available as well. He will come in on Wednesday and continue his rehab and we’ll have a good look at where he is.
“I’m very hopeful that Marcus will be available for selection for the latter part of this tournament.”
Ireland are on a different level to any other team in the Six Nations.
They arrive at HQ with three bonus points from three wins against
France, Italy and Wales.
Coach Andy Farrell has swept their World Cup hangover away and they are set to become the first side to win back-to-back clean sweeps in the Six Nations era.
England flanker Ben Earl has warned his side they are in for a tough time if they turn over ball like they did against Scotland. They coughed up possession 22 times in Edinburgh.
Earl said: “You’re never going to win a game of international rugby like that. We’ve got two weeks trying to work out how we beat them.
“Ireland are probably one of the top two, three teams in the world.
“But I have full confidence that our leaders in the squad and the coaches will come up with a solution.”