England handed injury boost as Smith, Mitchell near return

England are optimistic Marcus Smith will be back in the game for their Six Nations clash against Ireland on March 9 and hope Alex Mitchell will still play a part in this year's championship.

England suffered their first Championship defeat of this year against Scotland on Saturday but will be boosted by news of injuries to their two half-backs.

Smith has played no part so far this year after limping out of training with a calf injury days before England's opening match against Italy. George Ford started all three competitions in his place, with Fin Smith as his deputy.

Meanwhile, Mitchell started England's first two matches against Italy and Wales, but missed the defeat against Scotland with a knee injury. Danny Care started at Murrayfield with Ben Spencer among the substitutes.

“I am very hopeful that Marcus will be available for selection, for this latter part of the tournament,” England head coach Steve Borthwick said. “We also had some positive news regarding Alex Mitchell's injury, so hopefully he will feature in the latter part of the tournament as well. Whether it's the next game or the last, I'm not sure.

“Alex will come on Wednesday and continue his rehabilitation. We'll see where he is.”

England face a tough test against Ireland, who are two wins away from completing a second consecutive Grand Slam after enjoying comfortable victories over France, Italy and Wales in their opening three matches .