Steve Borthwick has been boosted by the surprise return to fitness of Alex Mitchell for Saturday’s game with Italy and conducted England’s biggest Six Nations overhaul in 12 years by naming five uncapped players in his matchday squad.
However, the Harlequins fly-half, Marcus Smith – who sustained a calf injury at the start of the week – has been sent home and already been ruled out of the match against Wales as well. “He’ll go back to England and have further investigations,” the head coach said.
