England Name Nations Championship Squad Without Injured Mitchell

England coach Steve Borthwick has named a 36-player squad without scrum-half Alex Mitchell for November's Nations Championship fixtures against Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Mitchell misses out with a hamstring injury sustained playing for Northampton Saints against Gloucester on Saturday, and he is set to undergo a scan, placing his involvement in the second phase of the competition in doubt. Fellow scrum-half Archie McParland is also out after a calf issue sustained during England's training camp last week kept him out of Northampton's 28-14 victory at Franklin's Gardens, although it is hoped he will recover in time to face Japan or New Zealand later in the month. To fill the vacancies, Borthwick has called up Ben Spencer and Harry Randall. There is further concern at fly-half, where first-choice Fin Smith is in a race against time to recover from a calf strain ahead of Sunday's autumn opener against Australia at Allianz Stadium. Borthwick said the fixtures take on added significance this autumn as they represent England's final opportunity to face southern hemisphere opposition before next year's Rugby World Cup. After Australia on November 8, England meet Japan six days later and take on New Zealand in their final pool game on November 21, before the Nations Championship finals matches the following weekend.