Alex Mitchell’s selection at scrum‑half fascinates me. Has he really improved so much in the space of a month in Steve Borthwick’s eyes that he has managed to go from outside the World Cup squad looking in to starting England’s crucial pool‑stage match? Or is his selection a recognition that his style of play runs in tandem with what brings out the best in this England? I believe it is the latter and Borthwick needs to be given his fair share of credit for that.
There’s an opinion that Borthwick is quite set in his ways. It was very clear how Leicester went about things and he’s continued that with England. But it’s also important to have malleable thinking, look at what you’ve got and then say: “I know this has got me success to this point but we need to slightly change what we do.” I’d have thought those conversations would have taken place with players such as Owen Farrell, George Ford – they’re as close as you’d get to coaches on the field – as well as Ellis Genge and Courtney Lawes. We’ve got a great brains trust to be able to figure out the direction of travel for the game.
I’ve always been of the opinion that I’d like to see a more open England team. And then if you have to constrict and restrict after that, that’s a lot easier to do rather than start in a pragmatic way, when it’s all kicking and clapping and then with 30 minutes left, try to do something different.
Maybe Mitchell didn’t fit into the gameplan that Borthwick had for the 33-man squad he initially picked. But since then we’ve gone through the warm-ups, we’ve seen a lack of fluidity and tempo and Mitchell ticks all the necessary boxes to be able to remedy that. Mitchell starting at No 9 is the greatest illustration that there has been a recognition they need to move the dial on their game. The area of biggest growth for them to fulfil their potential is in attack.
Mitchell is a vibrant, running No 9. If we look at his performances in the Six Nations, he came off the bench and made an impact. He upped the tempo, was attacking short sides and keeping defences guessing, challenging them with his speed and making them think. I think we’ll see more in attack than we’ve seen all year. We know how important, significant and historic a Six Nations is but this is England’s biggest Test this year and it feels like we’re starting to see a shift, an acknowledgment that they need to play a little bit more.
I think Mitchell has been the form No 9 in the Premiership – he was in the team of the season for 2022-23 – and it is interesting how circumstances, results and a little introspection can change your philosophy of thinking as to how a player is not only back in the squad but starting the biggest game of the pool.
There has been a lack of conversation about Argentina when it comes to plotting out who will reach the latter stages of the tournament but I can say with confidence that they and England will get out of their pool. I’d back Argentina to get to the semi-finals. The personality of their team is still set piece, aggression and forward dominance but they’ve developed much further because they have a set of players who have been exposed around Europe.
The 26-year-old scrum-half was born in Maidstone in May 1997 and joined Northampton in 2015 after beginning his career at Sale Sharks’ academy, making his Saints debut in 2017.
After representing England at Under-16, U17, U18 and U20 levels, Mitchell made his full debut as a replacement against Tonga in November 2021, scoring a try in a 69-3 victory.
His first start in an England jersey came in June 2019 at Twickenham, in a non-cap match against the Barbarians. England won 51-43, with fellow debutant Marcus Smith scoring 26 points.
Mitchell was a keen footballer before committing to rugby as a teenager. His older brother, James, is also a professional scrum-half. The siblings were together at Sale’s academy before Alex joined Northampton. James signed for Saints in 2019 and now plays for Jersey Reds.
In the 2021-22 campaign Mitchell scored 12 tries in 28 appearances for Northampton, and was voted player of the season by his teammates and supporters. His nickname is 'Mitch', his favourite takeaway food is Indian and his favourite player is the former All Black Dan Carter.
They’ve got this clutch of players who are expressive and they can be potent. Michael Cheika will be so happy his side is going under the radar but I expect them to give a reminder of their quality on Saturday, regardless of the result.
Julián Montoya is their captain and you can tell an awful lot about the personality of their team from their captain and their coach. They are a team that has only one gear – fifth. Whether that’s set pieces, kick-chase, attack, defence, over the ball – there is total buy-in and they do not go away. You have to break their spirit, which is a very difficult thing to do.
I think it’ll be a bit nervous once the match has kicked off and the team who can settle into the pattern of the game the best will be able to take control of it. Discipline, in a game that will be so tight, is so important. You can’t be giving free hits for Emiliano Boffelli to go 3, 6, 9 and the same goes for George Ford. We know the first 20 minutes is competitive, the last 20 is also competitive – whether it’s tight or one team are changing the game – but if you can manage the middle 40, that’s what the best teams do and whoever manages to do that is likely to come out on top.
