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.
The 26-year-old Mitchell was omitted from England’s training squad in late June – a surprise decision given he had appeared off the bench in four of their five Six Nations fixtures – but was handed a reprieve last month when Jack van Poortvliet was ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury. Despite England’s humiliating defeat by Fiji, Mitchell caught the eye in the opening stages with his ability to add tempo to the attack.
His expected selection also signals attacking intent from England, who against Fiji ended a wait of more than six hours to score a try through a back. Borthwick insisted this week that England would be sticking to the conservative gameplan that he has instilled since taking over as head coach, but Mitchell would be tasked with providing quick ball in an effort to spark the attack into life. With Jonny May also under consideration for a starting spot on the wing, Borthwick could select two players who were not named in his initial World Cup squad.
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.
Elsewhere, Dan Cole is expected to start at tighthead prop with Borthwick preferring the veteran and his set-piece nous to Will Stuart and Kyle Sinckler. The 36-year-old is appearing at his fourth World Cup having resurrected his international career after the appointment of Borthwick – his former director of rugby at Leicester – as England head coach last December.
“I didn’t think this would happen but now I’m here and I’m very happy and grateful to be part of it,” Cole said. “It was a surprise to get the call from Steve because I hadn’t played for England for three years. I’d worked with him at Leicester but he didn’t give anything away. After 2019 and what happened in the final, I wouldn’t say it would have been easy to have packed it in, but it would have been easy to just drift.”
As reported by the Guardian, Tom Curry is also set for a start in the back row, having been sidelined with an ankle injury. It would be a first game since the Premiership final in late May and a first England appearance under Borthwick, having missed the Six Nations with a hamstring injury, but the team have leaked 30 tries in nine matches and Curry adds ballast to the defence. Ben Earl is also expected to join Curry and the captain, Courtney Lawes, in the back row.
