Mitchell's hamstring blow clouds England's 73-8 demolition of Fiji in Nations Championship

Alex Mitchell will miss England’s Nations Championship decider against Argentina in Santiago del Estero after suffering another hamstring injury during Saturday’s 73-8 victory over Fiji at Hill Dickinson Stadium, head coach Steve Borthwick confirmed.

The British and Irish Lions scrum-half entered the match as a second-half replacement for Jack van Poortvliet but lasted just nine minutes before limping off. It is the third hamstring problem Mitchell has sustained this season — the first ruled him out of the Six Nations entirely — and Borthwick admitted the full extent of the damage remains unclear.

“I don’t know at this stage whether it’s a recurrence of the hamstring injury he’s had a couple of times already this season, nor can I confirm the length at this early stage of how long he’s going to be absent for,” Borthwick said. “But it looks like he won’t be able to be part of next week.”

With both Mitchell and Van Poortvliet off the pitch, Marcus Smith was shifted from full-back to scrum-half — a position he has never trained in with England — and delivered a performance that drew warm praise from his head coach.

“Marcus did a brilliant job stepping in at nine like that. He was super,” Borthwick said. “Marcus played really physically in contact, in the tackle, and was so alive to the off-load. He made a lot of good things happen for the team.”

Smith’s improvised contribution helped England run in 11 tries and record their first Test win in six attempts, and only their second victory of 2026. The margin of victory will provide genuine encouragement ahead of the trip to Argentina, even as Mitchell’s absence casts a shadow over an otherwise commanding afternoon.