England suffer Van Poortvliet blow, await news of Farrell’s ban

England scrumhalf Jack Van Poortvliet has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup after suffering an ankle injury.

Van Poortvliet sustained the problem in the first half of the World Cup warm-up match against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday and is set to undergo ankle surgery.

The 22-year-old Leicester back has been replaced in Steve Borthwick’s 33-man World Cup squad by Northampton’s Alex Mitchell.

“It’s really bad luck for Jack and we send him our very best wishes for a swift and successful recovery,” Borthwick said.

Mitchell joins Ben Youngs and Danny Care as Borthwick’s scrumhalf options for the World Cup in France next month.

The 26-year-old was unfortunate to miss out on the original squad after making four impactful replacement appearances during the 2023 Six Nations Championship, injecting energy and tempo into England’s play.

Farrell red card

Borthwick faces another issue at flyhalf as England wait for the outcome of the disciplinary hearing that will determine the length of Owen Farrell’s ban after his Twickenham red card.

Farrell’s shoulder-led challenge to the head of Taine Basham was upgraded from a yellow card to red by the ‘Bunker’ review system and he could now miss England’s World Cup opener against Argentina.

The England captain must now appear before a video disciplinary hearing that begins on Tuesday to find out the length of his suspension.

He received a three-match ban for the same offence in January, on top of five matches in 2020 and two in 2016.

England complete their World Cup preparations with games against Ireland and Fiji before launching their group campaign against Argentina in Marseille on September 9.

Farrell now seems likely to miss out against the toughest opponents in Pool D, while his participation against Japan, Chile and Samoa is also in question.