- Jack Van Poortvliet suffered a serious ankle injury at Twickenham last August
- The 23-year-old scrum half made his comeback for Leicester Tigers in March
- Borthwick put together a provisional 19-man squad ahead of the England summer tour
Jack Van Poortvliet has been recalled by England and is on course to revive his Test career after missing the World Cup due to a serious ankle injury.
The 23-year-old Leicester scrum-half was the country’s pre-eminent No. 9 until he suffered major ligament damage in the summer warm-up against Wales at Twickenham last August.
In his absence, Northampton’s Alex Mitchell seized the opportunity to claim a place in the tournament squad and became the undisputed starter, with Danny Care coming on as his substitute.
Now that Care has retired from Test rugby with a century of caps, a spot is up for grabs and Van Poortvliet is about to claim it.
He made his comeback for the Tigers at the end of March and quickly showed an encouraging return to top form. The dazzling solo try he scored against Exeter in Leicester’s final Premiership match at Welford Road was hailed as a ‘ripper’ by the East Midlands club’s Australian head coach Dan McKellar.
Jack Van Poortvliet will claim a place in the England team following the departure of Danny Care
The 23-year-old suffered major ligament damage during the summer warm-up last August
England head coach Steve Borthwick has included the Leicester man in his provisional training squad, consisting of 19 players
He has been included in a provisional training squad of 19 players which will head to Surrey to begin the build-up to England’s summer tour of Japan and New Zealand.
Additional players will be added from Premier League play-off clubs in due course – while rookies such as Exeter strikers Greg Fisilau and Rusi Tuima, Newcastle flanker Guy Pepper and Gloucester fly-half Charlie Atkinson have been included to gain experience and are not allowed to travel.
As first reported by Mail Sport, there is room for Harlequins’ new prop star Fin Baxter, but the injury of leading loosehead Ellis Genge means Joe Marler will now go on tour, rather than staying at home as planned.
He and fellow veteran Dan Cole are coming to camp next week.
Gloucester No. 8 Zach Mercer has had an impressive season and has spoken of his desperate desire to earn a place on the tour, but he has once again been overlooked by head coach Steve Borthwick.
England take on Japan in Tokyo on June 22, before back-to-back tests against the All Blacks – in Dunedin on July 6 and Auckland on July 13.