England’s injury headaches are mounting before next Sunday’s autumn opener against Australia with the scrum-half Alex Mitchell a major doubt after limping out of Northampton’s hard-fought victory over Gloucester with another hamstring problem.

It is to the credit of Northampton that they weathered that setback, withheld Gloucester’s early onslaught to score 28 unanswered points and see off the early-season pace-setters. Northampton’s last league outing here ended with 119 points scored but this was a victory founded on their defensive resilience with Tom Pearson, back in the England picture this autumn, outstanding throughout.

If Pearson’s performance will have pleased Borthwick, Mitchell’s withdrawal will not. He is already sweating on the fitness of the Northampton fly-half Fin Smith, who sat in the stands with an injured calf here, and now has concerns over his half-back partner Mitchell.…