Alex Mitchell: Northampton and England scrum-half has ‘fire in the belly’ after injury
Northampton Saints half-back Alex Mitchell says he has rekindled the “fire in his belly” and hopes to lead club and country to new heights after recovering from a neck injury height.
Mitchell made his first appearance of the season as a substitute on Saturday Premier League loss to Gloucester After missing out on the defending champions and the start of England’s entire autumn campaign.
The 27-year-old is expected to start in Saturday’s Champions League opener against Castells as he looks to make up for lost time during next year’s Six Nations.
“The worst part of rugby is injuries,” Mitchell told BBC Sport.
“Watching games from the sidelines is very frustrating. You have to help the team off the pitch but you always want to play and I’m happy to be back.
“I miss it so much. Sometimes when you play all the time your body gets a little tired and you might complain about something.
“You might not appreciate it as much, but when you’re marginalized, it gives you a little bit of motivation and more motivation again.
“It’s great to be able to get that adrenaline back and compete.”
Mitchell scores the winning goal Saints win Premier League title June He was England’s first-choice number nine for their summer tour of New Zealand before injuries limited his progress during pre-season.
“The timing is not ideal,” he said. “I feel like I’m in a good position and it was a random injury.
“I have some bangs at the start of the week on Monday and Tuesday.
“I was fine on Wednesday but when I woke up on Thursday I couldn’t move my neck. I called the club doctor and he told me to drive into the club.
“I was in a lot of pain in the car but I just thought it was going to be a cramp.
“It didn’t seem to go away and I had to have a scan which revealed it was a bulging disc in my neck.
“I had to have several injections and there was no timetable for recovery. The first injection didn’t really work but the second one did, so it was frustrating because we didn’t know the extent of the injury.”
