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

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 forced him to miss 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 No 9 in the squad. Spencer, with four caps, has not played for England since his appearance from the bench in the 2019 World Cup final defeat to South Africa, while Randall has not represented his country since the loss to Ireland in the 2022 Six Nations.

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, the Rugby Football Union confirmed on Sunday.

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. Although as of yet unconfirmed, Muir is expected to link up with the England A squad to take on Portugal at Welford Road on Sunday, the group from which Randall has been promoted.

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: Mitchell and Marcus Smith.