England's Alex Mitchell out of Six Nations with hamstring injury

England's scrum-half Alex Mitchell has been ruled out of the remainder of the Guinness Six Nations campaign after suffering a hamstring injury during Saturday's 42-21 defeat to Ireland at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium.

The 28-year-old Northampton Saints player, who has started England's last 10 Six Nations matches as head coach Steve Borthwick's preferred number nine, lasted just 24 minutes in the match before limping off. Leicester Tigers' Jack van Poortvliet replaced him on the bench, and he is now the frontrunner to start at scrum-half when England face Italy in Rome on March 7. Bath's Ben Spencer remains an option from the wider squad, while Sale's Raffi Quirke has been called up as additional cover ahead of the final rounds.

Borthwick confirmed the extent of Mitchell's injury after scans and consultations with specialists. "Alex has been scanned and seen the relevant specialists," he said. "He'll be out for a number of weeks, unfortunately, so won't feature in the remainder of this championship." The setback comes at a challenging time for England, who must also travel to Paris to play France a week after the Italy fixture, following a fallow weekend.