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Gallagher-Prime Minister
Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson hopes so England and Lions Scrum-half Alex Mitchell will be ready to start their title defense against Gallagher PREM Newcastle Red Bulls later this month.
Mitchell has returned to training after missing the England final Nations Championship conflict with Argentina after suffering an injury in their 73-8 thrashing Fiji at Everton’s Bramley Dock in July.
He was hampered by hamstring injuries last year, but Dowson says he is back in training and is confident he will be ready for the clash with the Red Bulls on September 25.
“He’s been training really well, and I think he’s desperate to get stuck into it. It will be disappointing to miss the summer. I feel he had a great opportunity in the final and was fantastic considering he didn’t play.”
“We want to get some consistency with him, training-wise, and make sure we keep him on the pitch as much as possible. It’s a case of managing him. It’s the hamstring he did in the Six Nations, so there’s a bit of soft tissue there.
“Obviously we’re going to put some processes in place to try and mitigate those risks, but every player is open to injury and they won’t be the first or the last to have to miss really important games,” Dowson said. RugbyPass.
Saints had Alex Coles, Manny Iyogun, Henry Pollock, Finn Smith and Tommy Freeman at England’s three-day training camp at Pennyhill Park this week, but Archie McParland was forced to pull out at the last minute due to illness.
Dowson, however, said it was no minor setback for McParland, who has been ruled out of the summer tests with a serious leg injury sustained in the PREM final victory Exeter Chiefs which required 38 stitches.
“He’s on the mend. We had a bit of an illness in camp so we’re trying to get that in our heads and try to take care of those players before the season kicks in.
“So disappointing for Archie, but I’m hopeful and pretty confident he’ll get more opportunities in that space,” Dowson added.
