England scrum-half Mitchell ruled out of Six Nations clash with Scotland

Bristol’s Harry Randall called up as cover with first-choice No 9 to miss Calcutta Cup clash with knee injury

England’s preparations for next Saturday’s Six Nations encounter with Scotland have been dealt a blow with scrum-half Alex Mitchell ruled out with a knee injury.
Mitchell, who has started both of England’s victories in the championship thus far, limped out of an open training session at Twickenham last Friday and preliminary assessments have ruled him out of next weekend’s Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield, with Bristol’s Harry Randall called up as scrum-half cover.
Danny Care, the replacement scrum-half in victories over Italy and Wales, is likely to win his 99th cap in the Scottish capital, with Bath’s Ben Spencer the other scrum-half in the squad.
The extent of the damage to Mitchell’s knee is not known at this stage and the 26-year-old will undergo further examinations this week.
An RFU spokesperson said: “Alex Mitchell is unavailable for selection due to a knee injury. Further investigation is required this week to ascertain the length of the rehab period, but he will not take part in the Calcutta Cup next Saturday.”
In a midfield boost, however, Bath centre Ollie Lawrence has finished his period of rehabilitation and joins the main squad in place of Bath wing Will Muir in the only other change to the group named by head coach Steve Borthwick last week.
Marcus Smith will continue his rehabilitation this week, too, although England have put no time-frame on his potential return to the main group. Borthwick, therefore, will travel to Scotland without what many believed to be his first-choice half-back pairing ahead of the Six Nations.
Sale Sharks pair Luke Cowan-Dickie and Manu Tuilagi, as well as Leicester Tigers forward George Martin, all feature as they continue to work towards a return from injury absences.
Borthwick’s 36-player squad assembled at their Pennyhill Park base in Surrey on Sunday to prepare for a fixture that England has not won since 2020, losing their last three encounters with Gregor Townsend’s side. After the Calcutta Cup, England host Ireland at Twickenham before travelling to Lyon in the final round of the Six Nations.
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England squad for Scotland Six Nations match:
Forwards:Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers)Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)Theo Dan (Saracens)Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)Ben Earl (Saracens)Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)Jamie George (Saracens)Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers)Maro Itoje (Saracens)Joe Marler (Harlequins)George Martin (Leicester Tigers)Beno Obano (Bath Rugby)Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs)Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
‌Backs:Danny Care (Harlequins)Elliot Daly (Saracens)Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)George Ford (Sale Sharks)Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)George Furbank (Northampton Saints)Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby)Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby)Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)