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England have suffered major injuries ahead of the Six Nations, with Jamie George ruled out of their opening matches against Ireland and France.
Hooker George, who was replaced by Maro Itoje as captain, injured his hamstring while playing for Saracens in the Champions Cup and is among a group of five forced to withdraw from a pre-tournament training camp in Girona.
Scrum-half Alex Mitchell has also withdrawn but will travel to Spain for rehabilitation in the hope of returning in time for the clash in Dublin. His compatriot Jack van Poortvliet also suffered an injury, as did forwards Alex Coles and Alex Dombrandt, and the trio are expected to join George in missing at least the first two games.
A quintet of replacements were called up in the 36-man squad named last week, including Ben Spencer, who twice started at scrum-half in place of Mitchell during the Autumn Nations Series.
Also previously capped are Sale’s Raffi Quirke and Northampton hooker Curtis Langdon, while Gloucester lock Arthur Clark and rising Northampton star Henry Pollock earn their first senior England call-ups.
Injury problems will leave Steve Borthwick worrying ahead of a vital campaign.
Although no longer captain, George remains a key part of Borthwick’s leadership group and a senior member of the team. While Luke Cowan-Dickie and Theo Dan are fit, his absence represents a major blow.
“He is a top player, a great leader and a fantastic influence around other players. So we’re desperately disappointed for us as a team and for him,” Borthwick told media at the Six Nations launch in Rome.
“I spoke to him yesterday [Monday] and I got a sense of determination from him on the phone. He’s a fast healer and he’ll come back as soon as possible. I’ll be happy to get him back into tip-top shape. I told him that to pull a hamstring, he was clearly running too fast. I’m disappointed for him but I hope he comes back soon.
But perhaps even more crucial is MItchell’s potential absence. England have sorely missed their first-choice scrum-half in an autumn where they have won just once in four games, with the 27-year-old out with a neck injury.
It is hoped his leg knock will recover in time for the trip to Dublin on February 1.
“We missed him in the fall,” Borthwick said. “He has that running threat, but he also has ball speed that is the fastest of our nine. You can see the effect Alex has on the Northampton team as well as the England team.
“We are very optimistic that he will be available next week and he is playing very well. He is clearly crucial in how we want to play. We know that, in this championship, the break is going to be hard-fought, so getting that ball back is going to be very, very important for us.
Spencer started the first two games of the November campaign before finding himself out on Matchday 23 as Van Poortvliet was promoted to starting position. Harry Randall is the other nine members of the England squad and has appeared on the bench in all four autumn matches.
A call-up for Pollock, meanwhile, comes after producing impressive form both domestically and in Europe for Northampton. The open flanker was a star of the England team that won the U20 World Championship in South Africa last summer.
He, Clark and Langdon all featured in the England A team’s match against Australia in November.
