Alex Mitchell has tipped comeback kid Fraser Dingwall to link England together like Man City great Rodri. Scrum-half Mitchell plays club rugby with centre Dingwall at Northampton and sees at first- hand every week how he knits the side in defence and attack.

Dingwall has been in out of England training squads since 2020 but has just two caps, both won in last year’s Six Nations, to show for it. The 25-year-old consistently brings the best out of the likes of Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman at Saints and Mitchell has backed him to do the same against Italy on Sunday.

Mitchell said: “He is like a Rodri at Man City. He doesn’t always get the great goals or the assists but he is a mainstay in your team.

“A lot of the time he goes unnoticed because he does his job so well for the team and makes other players look so good. He is like that glue guy – he is fantastic. His talk on the pitch, I have had for years at Northampton, is second to none. He talks you through the game and defensively he is quality. Hopefully we will see some of that.

“He makes your job so much easier because he commentates you through the game. Sometimes he doesn’t get the accolades himself but the players inside him and outside him know what to do. It is a big part to his game.”

Dingwall has been knocking on the door of England selection since the Wales game at Twickenham last year tacking another year of selection heartache on to the four previous ones.

But Mitchell revealed his mate has dealt with the setbacks and is primed to perform this afternoon.

He added: “He has got a good head on him, he has captained quite a lot at Northampton so he knows how to deal with himself. He is a fantastic human so he knows how to look after himself.

“He is very confident, he has been in the camps since his last cap and he is great around the lads. He doesn’t change to much from Northampton to England. He is a great defensive leader and has trained really well all week so he is ready to go.”