England suffer World Cup blow as Van Poortvliet ruled out with replacement named

14 August 2023 , 10:45

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Van Poortvliet receives treatment on the Twickenham pitch during England's game with Wales (Image: The RFU Collection via Getty Ima)

England’s troubled World Cup build-up has suffered a fresh blow with Jack van Poortvliet ruled out of the tournament.

The gifted Leicester scrum-half was carried off with an ankle injury early in Saturday’s narrow win over Wales at Twickenham.

Scans revealed damage significant enough for the 22-year old to require surgery which will sideline him until after the showpiece in France.

Northampton nine Alex Mitchell has been called up in Van Poortvliet’s place and joins Ben Youngs and Danny Care competing for the shirt.

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

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Van Poortvliet is carried off Twickenham with his World Cup hopes in tatters (Getty Images)

Van Poortvliet had spoken of the emotional reaction of his family after being named in Borthwick’s 33-man party a week ago today.

“I FaceTimed my family straight away,” he said. “They were in the car and I spoke to my mum – who wasn’t driving! She was crying, which was pretty hard to cope with!”

The loss of Van Poortvliet comes a day before Owen Farrell appears in front of disciplinary chiefs following his red card for foul play.

The England skipper is expected to receive a ban of anything up to six weeks, ruling him out of the start of the tournament.

England open their campaign in Marseille against Pool D rivals Argentina three weeks this Saturday.

Alex Spink