Alex Mitchell ruled out of England's entire autumn campaign

Alex Mitchell will miss England's entire autumn international campaign after a scan confirmed the extent of his latest hamstring setback, The Guardian reported on Tuesday. The Northampton scrum-half had already been ruled out of the Australia match, but Monday's assessment established that his absence would extend through the rest of the programme.

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Mitchell will be unavailable for the Tests against Australia, Japan and New Zealand, along with England's placings match during the Nations Championship finals weekend. He was forced off against Gloucester on Saturday. According to The Guardian, that was the fourth occasion this year on which he had sustained a hamstring injury, adding another interruption to his international and club season.

His earlier problems came during the Six Nations, at an England training camp in May and in the Test against Fiji. After the May setback, Mitchell recovered in time to be part of Northampton's squad for their Premiership final victory over Exeter. His limited playing time subsequently helped open the way for Jack van Poortvliet to start at scrum-half for England during the summer.

The new absence leaves head coach Steve Borthwick without the player The Guardian described as his first-choice scrum-half when fit. Van Poortvliet is expected to start against Australia, with Ben Spencer and Harry Randall competing for a bench place, although those selections have not been confirmed. Northampton teammate Tommy Freeman expressed disappointment at Mitchell's injury and said he hoped his recovery would go well.

England are also monitoring Mitchell's club half-back partner Fin Smith, who injured his calf against Leicester last month. Smith completed a running session on Monday, then followed a modified programme and missed most of Tuesday's training. His availability remains unresolved, with Wednesday's session due to provide a further test. George Ford and Marcus Smith are England's other options at fly-half.

The scrum-half resources are further affected by a calf injury to Northampton's Archie McParland, although England hope he can take part later in the campaign. Borthwick is also without Bath back-rowers Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill. Bath hooker Kepu Tuipulotu has a knee problem, while Bristol centre Benhard van Rensburg is absent following a concussion against Northampton.