England's Mitchell ruled out of Nations Championship

Scrum-half Alex Mitchell has been ruled out of the whole of England's Nations Championship after suffering his fourth hamstring injury of the year. The Northampton pivot limped out of his club's Prem game with Gloucester last Saturday, and England confirmed he will play no part in the matches with Australia, Japan and New Zealand this month. Meanwhile, fly-half Fin Smith took a limited part in training as he continues his recovery from a calf problem. He took part, however, in running drills on arrival in camp, with England sources remaining optimistic about his chances of being fit for Sunday's showdown with the Wallabies. But the news around Mitchell had been expected ever since he withdrew in the first half of Northampton's 28-14 victory over the Cherry and Whites.

The 29-year-old had already picked up three hamstring injuries through the course of 2026, and now faces a prolonged period out of action for club and country. Bath's Ben Spencer and Bristol Bears' Harry Randall were called in as scrum-half options on Monday, with Leicester's Jack van Poortvliet – who started all three of England's summer Tests – the likely first-choice nine. Northampton scrum-half Archie McParland, 21, was named in the initial training squad but picked up a calf injury in last week's training camp. Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and flanker Tom Curry