AlexMitchell

Alex Mitchell has enjoyed a sensational two years for both club and country and will now head to Australia for his first British & Irish Lions Tour.

The scrum-half, who will be 28 when the plane departs for Australia, has enjoyed a rapid rise under Steve Borthwick.

And yet had it not been for injury, that ascent may not have happened.

Picked for an England debut by Eddie Jones in 2021, coming off the bench to score a try against Tonga, Mitchell did not then feature again at international level until the 2023 Six Nations.

After playing four games during that Championship, he missed out on initial selection for England’s World Cup squad, only to be recalled after Jack van Poortvliet was ruled out of the tournament.

From missing the initial squad, Mitchell quickly emerged as the number one scrum-half for Borthwick, playing an important role as they made it all the way to the semi-final.

He has not looked back since, scoring the winning try to fire club side Northampton Saints to a first Premiership title in a decade.

His combination with Fin Smith has thrived for club and now country in 2025, helping England to their best finish in the Six Nations in five years.

It has been an impressive journey for Mitchell, who was part of the Sale Sharks academy set-up before moving to Northampton at 18.

As well as playing for England through the age groups, he quickly broke through at Saints, making his debut at just 20.

By his second season, he already had some silverware, starting in the Premiership Rugby Cup final victory over Saracens in 2019.

Under Chris Boyd and now Phil Dowson, Mitchell has emerged as a leader for Northampton as well as the long-term successor to World Cup-winning Springbok Cobus Reinach, while Saints’ fine form has seen an increasing number of players force their way into the England reckoning.

And after taking his opportunity to become England’s No.1, Mitchell will now head to Australia looking to do the same for the Lions.