Steve Borthwick is facing a mounting injury crisis at half-back ahead of the Autumn Nations Series, with both Alex Mitchell and George Ford likely to miss out.
Ford and Mitchell were widely expected to be named in the squad and possibly would have been the starting halfback combination for England’s opener against the All Blacks in a month.
Mitchell sustained a neck injury in pre-season training, and has yet to feature for club side Northampton Saints since; and Ford was withdrawn early into Sale Sharks defeat to Saracens at the weekend through a thigh injury.
But with the pair now likely to miss out on selection, who will come into their vacant positions? Borthwick isn’t short of potential replacements, and we’ve broken down the runners and riders who will be vying for a spot in England’s upcoming Test squad.
Front runners
Another potential option at scrum-half could be Leicester Tigers man Jack van Poortvliet, who is fully back up and running now. The young scrum-half was the locked-in starter under Borthwick prior to injury – which allowed Mitchell to leapfrog him in the pecking order.
Whilst he did come back to full fitness last season, having a full pre-season under his belt with the Tigers has brought him back to his best and he has looked in good touch in the opening games of the Premiership campaign.
At fly-half, Smith squared will likely battle it out once again for the starting shirt. Quins ace Marcus Smith held the upper hand in the summer over his Northampton counterpart Fin Smith but both players are capable of playing the attacking structure that England want to deploy moving forwards, so it could easily be a coin-toss between them.
In the mix
Speaking of attack, is there a better out-and-out attacking nine in the Premiership than Harry Randall? The Bristol Bears man is a real threat around the ruck, with his abilty to scamper through holes a real weapon in their arsenal.
He also loves to play with quick-ball, and can inject some real fizz into an attack when on the pitch. He too toured the Southern Hemisphere with England in the summer, and is the closest to Mitchell’s style that England have at their disposal at the moment.
Outside bets
The outside bets both come in the number 10 spot, with Saracens newbie Fergus Burke and Exeter’s Harvey Skinner possible options for Borthwick moving forward.
Burke, who only arrived at Saracens from the Crusaders this season, is eligible to play for England, and capping him could be a good way to fend off the interest of Scotland. Like Smith squared, Burke plays the type of attacking rugby England are looking to adopt now, and he has shown he is almost a mix of all three of England’s fly-half options too. His carrying ability makes him a genuine threat at the line, but he can also inject serious pace into an attack as well.
Skinner has been on the cusp of breaking away for some time, but seems to be really coming into his own now. He is starting to develop that threat at the line that made Joe Simmonds such a potent force for the Chiefs, and he also has an eye for space with his cross-field kicking a big part of Exeter’s attack. Skinner’s remarkable performance last season against Harlequins was probably his true coming-of-age showing, but despite the Chiefs’ lacklustre start to the season he is only improving from that.
