Steve Borthwick has been forced to overhaul his scrum-half plans for the World Cup after Jack van Poortvliet was ruled out of the entire tournament because of an ankle injury with Alex Mitchell called into the squad. Borthwick is braced for further upheaval on Tuesday with Owen Farrell to learn the extent of his expected ban at a disciplinary hearing.
Van Poortvliet sustained the ankle injury towards the end of the first half of the dramatic victory against Wales on Saturday in an accidental collision with his teammate Joe Marchant and was in obvious pain, receiving lengthy treatment before being helped off the pitch. Borthwick immediately headed pitchside to check on the 22-year-old scrum-half and the head coach’s fears have now been realised.
