Marcus Smith nearing return as England hope for double fitness boost ahead of Ireland clash

England hope Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell could both be fit in time to face Ireland. 

Head coach Steve Borthwick has high hopes that fly-half Smith will be ready to return for the Six Nations clash against the Irish at Twickenham on Saturday week. 

Northampton scrum-half Mitchell could be a longer shot for the March 9 clash but England have their fingers crossed he could yet be ready for action. 

Harlequins star Smith has missed all three of England’s Six Nations matches so far, after suffering a calf problem in the Red Rose team’s pre-tournament training camp in Girona. 

Mitchell missed England’s 30-21 defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday after picking up a knee ligament problem in training. The Saints No9 had shaken off an infected cut on his leg to start the tournament and impress in the slender wins over Italy and Wales. 

England could desperately do with the injection of pace, flair and skill that the two half-backs approaching fitness could offer. 

Smith would have been inked in to start the tournament in the No10 shirt, and will add another dimension to England’s attacking play should he return for the final two matches of this Six Nations campaign. 

“I’m very hopeful that Marcus Smith will be available for selection for this latter part of the tournament,” said Borthwick. 

“We’ve had positive news on Alex Mitchell’s injury too, so hopefully he will feature in the latter part of the tournament too. Whether that’s the next game or the last one, I’m not sure.” 

Smith has stayed in the England camp to rehab his calf problem, and that now looks to have paid off. The 24-year-old is now likely to return to the main squad when England reconvene in York on Wednesday. Mitchell will link up with England too, but may need to continue with rehabilitation as he races against time to be fit to take on Ireland. 

Borthwick will challenge his England players to find the answers as to why they drifted away from the Red Rose gameplan in Saturday’s dispiriting loss to Scotland. Gregor Townsend’s men registered four straight wins over England for the first time since 1972, leaving the error-strewn visitors flummoxed. 

Borthwick believes his players are already refocused on solving the problems that cropped up in Edinburgh, but England can expect several intense days in Yorkshire this week. 

“What’s going to be interesting to me and what I want when we debrief the players, is that after the first 20 minutes on Saturday, why did we go and play in a manner that was not the way we had played the first 20?” he said.

“What changed? What in the thought processes altered to try and do something different? I’ll only be able to understand that fully once we have talked to the players and listened to them about how it was on the grass.”