England scrum-half Alex Mitchell ruled out ahead of Italy in blow to Six Nations campaign, Raffi Quirke joins squad as cover

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England and Northampton Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell will be absent for the rest of the Six Nations after limping off the field midway through the first half of England’s 42-21 loss to Ireland at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday. Steve Borthwick confirmed that Mitchell will be out for the final two rounds against Italy and France, and added that Ollie Lawrence may be a doubt for Rome.

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England scrum-half Alex Mitchell has been ruled out for the remainder of the Six Nations in a huge blow to their campaign.

Mitchell suffered a hamstring injury during England's 42-21 defeat to Ireland on Saturday, and left the pitch after just 24 minutes at Allianz Stadium.

The Northampton Saints player has been Steve Borthwick's preferred nine, starting England's last 10 Six Nations matches, and five games at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

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Jack van Poortvliet is favourite to start when England visit Rome to take on Italy in the fourth round of the Six Nations.

The Leicester Tigers scrum-half replaced Mitchell against Ireland, and Ben Spencer is another nine in the squad that Borthwick can consider.

Sale Sharks' Raffi Quirke has been called up as additional cover ahead of the Italy fixture on March 7.

"Alex has been scanned and seen the relevant specialists," head coach Borthwick said.

"He’ll be out for a number of weeks, unfortunately, so won’t feature in the remainder of this championship."

Mitchell's departure comes at a time when George Ford has been under pressure as England's starting fly-half, meaning Borthwick could unveil a new 9-10 combination for a must-win clash with the Azzurri.

Italy, aside from their comprehensive defeat to France win in Lille, have performed impressively with a win against Scotland on the opening weekend and only a seven-point defeat in Ireland.

England by comparison, have witnessed their campaign fall off the rails after being touted as title winners several weeks ago.

A bruising Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland preceded a humiliating loss at home to Ireland, and they only sit above Italy due to a superior points difference.

Centre Ollie Lawrence is also a doubt and will miss the two-day training camp this week ahead of the trip to Rome.

Lawrence is hopeful of a return for the Italy game after missing the first two rounds and returning against Ireland. The centre had an injection in his knee and Borthwick is hopeful he will be back in time for Italy.

George Furbank will also be with Northampton this week in a PREM Rugby Cup clash with Saracens, getting game time ahead of a potential return to Test rugby in round four.

The full-back has been unlucky with injuries over the last year and has only featured sparingly for his club this season.

England supporters were hoping that the trip to Rome in the fourth round would be part of a Grand Slam tilt, but England risk leaving Rome with just one win from four games if they fail to secure a victory against Gonzalo Quesada's side.

England have yet to lose to the Italians, winning all 32 previous meetings. But Quesada's side have enjoyed a spirited campaign so far, competing with Ireland and France in defeat and beating Scotland on the opening weekend.

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