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Clubs issue latest Alex Mitchell, George Ford England fitness update

By PA
George Ford and Alex Mitchell with England at last year's Rugby World Cup in France (Photo by Michael Steele/World Rugby via Getty Images)

The availability of England scrum-half Alex Mitchell for the Autumn Nations Series looks under increasing threat as he continues his battle to overcome a neck problem. Northampton boss Phil Dowson explained on Tuesday that Mitchell is “improving very slowly”, but he has not played this season and there appears no immediate prospect of him returning to action.

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England kick off their autumn campaign against New Zealand on November 2, followed by appointments with Australia, South Africa and Japan. Mitchell, who has won 18 caps, is currently England’s clear first-choice number nine.

National team head coach Steve Borthwick announces his autumn squad on Wednesday, with Bath captain Ben Spencer, who provided bench cover for Mitchell during both summer Tests against the All Blacks, Bristol’s Harry Randall and Leicester scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet all set to be included.

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“He [Mitchell] had an injection and we are waiting to see how effective that has been,” Dowson said. “So as frustrating as it is, and there are lots of questions around it, there isn’t a definitive timeline because people are reticent to do anything more invasive. So basically, a conservative approach is the best approach.

“Unfortunately, that is one without a timeline. We are sort of sat on our hands a little bit, waiting to see how he is. He is improving, but he is improving very slowly, and it is how we can accelerate that process without risking anything from a long-term point of view.

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“I want to make sure that he is not stressed about it, which he doesn’t seem to be. He is a bit frustrated, but we want to make sure we do the right thing by him personally.”

Borthwick now has the final say on all medical and sport science matters affecting those England players given ‘hybrid contracts’. As part of an eight-year professional game partnership announced last month by the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and Rugby Players’ Association, Borthwick will have freedom to select up to 25 players who will be paid as much as £160,000 annually in return for greater control of how they are managed on club duty, which includes deciding on medical issues such as when a player undergoes surgery.

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Dowson added: “The (England) medics might want to have a look at him, so they might call him in and they might do that on an ad hoc basis or they might do that formally. That’s really up to Steve. The fact he hasn’t played for quite a period of time, and it is very slow, I can’t see that turning around in the short term.

“But at the same time they might want to monitor him, they might want to keep him close to the group, they might want to have him ready in there as Joe El-Abd (new defence coach) comes in and there is a change from a coaching point of view to make sure he is up to speed.

“So there are loads of reasons why I would see him in there, and I could also see why they would potentially give him time to stay at home. That’s a decision for Steve. The medics have been in constant communication and they have got the note-taking system so they can see what treatment he has had, when he has had it, what the specialist has said, what the scans say. They are aware of all the information like we are and, like we are, are waiting to see the best route moving forward really.”

Sale fly-half George Ford, meanwhile, is continuing his recovery from a torn thigh muscle and could be fit ahead of the autumn games. Ford was injured during Sale’s Gallagher Premiership defeat at Saracens in late September, although surgery was subsequently not required.

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Sharks rugby director Alex Sanderson said that Ford will not be available for the Premiership encounter against Northampton on Friday, but he is set to train next week.

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1 Comment
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Bull Shark 63 days ago

Borthwick now has the final say on all medical and sport science matters affecting those Englans players given ‘hybrid contracts’.


which includes deciding on medical issues such as when a player undergoes surgery.


If I was a player I’d tell him to FRO!

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fl 48 minutes ago
‘The problem with this year’s Champions Cup? Too many English clubs’

"fl's idea, if I can speak for him to speed things up, was for it to be semifinalists first, Champions Cup (any that somehow didn't make a league semi), then Challenge's semi finalists (which would most certainly have been outside their league semi's you'd think), then perhaps the quarter finalists of each in the same manner. I don't think he was suggesting whoever next performed best in Europe but didn't make those knockouts (like those round of 16 losers), I doubt that would ever happen."


That's not quite my idea.

For a 20 team champions cup I'd have 4 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 4 from the previous years challenge cup. For a 16 team champions cup I'd have 3 teams qualify from the previous years champions cup, and 1 from the previous years challenge cup.


"The problem I mainly saw with his idea (much the same as you see, that league finish is a better indicator) is that you could have one of the best candidates lose in the quarters to the eventual champions, and so miss out for someone who got an easier ride, and also finished lower in the league, perhaps in their own league, and who you beat everytime."

If teams get a tough draw in the challenge cup quarters, they should have won more pool games and so got better seeding. My system is less about finding the best teams, and more about finding the teams who perform at the highest level in european competition.

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