Steve Borthwick is expected to hand Alex Mitchell a shock start at scrum-half for England’s World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday. Mitchell was not even named in England’s initial 33-man squad for the tournament but the Guardian understands Borthwick is primed to give the livewire No 9 the nod in what would rank as one of his boldest selection moves to date.
Mitchell made his first start in England’s final warm-up match, the defeat by Fiji last month, and has just six caps but is expected to be preferred to Danny Care, who is set to be named on the bench, and Ben Youngs. It would be a considerable show of faith from Borthwick – who will name his team on Thursday in Marseille – given Care and Youngs have a combined total of 214 appearances and the latter is England men’s most-capped player in history.
