The thin air and oppressive heat of Pretoria will be nothing like the conditions that England will encounter in Dublin on Feb 1, but a famous victory for Northampton Saints over the Bulls still emphasised some pertinent aspects to Steve Borthwick.

Tommy Freeman oozed class. Fraser Dingwall reinforced his worth as an unfussy and industrious centre. Once again, Fin Smith looked mature and composed in a big away win, tackling tirelessly. Ollie Sleightholme forced a breakdown turnover and caused issues with his pace. George Hendy, a rangy runner, must be in the conversation. Curtis Langdon produced a combative, 80-minute performance at hooker.

Henry Pollock took another step up, thriving in the contact area of a physical encounter, and the towering Tom Lockett is one to watch. Bullish back-rower Tom Pearson looked perfectly suited to the role of impact replacement. Trevor Davison improved the scrum as well.

Perhaps most obvious of all was the influence of Alex Mitchell at scrum-half. Just as players can seize opportunities and rewrite pecking orders when peers suffer injuries, it is also eminently possible for one’s reputation to rise during a lay-off. England’s iffy autumn made this true of Mitchell, who missed four Tests because of a neck issue.

Borthwick missed him in turn. Mitchell’s rise to becoming England’s front-line No 9 has been rather curious given that he was initially left out of last year’s World Cup squad. Now, though, there can little doubt of his value to the side.

Ben Spencer, Harry Randall and Jack van Poortvliet have their qualities; and the latter has been excellent for Leicester Tigers in the Champions Cup over the last fortnight. He bagged a solo try against the Sharks:

Mitchell, however, is perhaps England’s most important individual – and this weekend demonstrated why that is.

Mastering momentum

A scrum-half’s relationship with quick ball is a question of chicken and egg. Occasionally, they can be unfairly blamed for stodgy phase attack when carriers are halted and breakdowns become messy. But scrum-halves can accelerate matters themselves with slick service, speed over the ground and conviction.

This is one of Mitchell’s major selling points. Take this early line-out, which he begins in the receiver role. Northampton are aiming to flood through the space to Akker van der Merwe’s right shoulder, into what is known as the “seam” of the defensive line:

They achieve this thanks to Mitchell. Following a throw to the front, Mitchell darts forward to bring the ball away from a developing maul and sends a quick pass across Freeman to Rory Hutchinson. The latter makes good ground:

This screenshot is a good illustration of how Mitchell’s sniping threat complements his zippy distribution. The defence is well resourced, but Cameron Hanekom, Marcell Coetzee and Van der Merwe all have their shoulders turned inwards because they are concerned about Mitchell:

Another accurate pass on the next phase, bypassing fringe defenders, allows Dingwall to punch a hole. Saints are in behind the Bulls, but George Furbank gets tangled up and Hanekom can pounce for a turnover:

Around 20 minutes later, Saints open the scoring and Mitchell is integral once more. First, watch the try through:

The line-out is thrown to Alex Coles in the middle this time. And though Mitchell begins in the receiver slot again, he backs away to take a pass from Pollock. This alters the picture for the defence rapidly because the ball is moved quickly into the midfield:

Here, Northampton run the first-phase shape that they have used prolifically over the years. Canan Moodie goes looking for Fin Smith behind the Saints centres, allowing Dingwall to win the gain-line after a short pass from Hutchinson.

On the scoring phase, watch how quickly Mitchell arrives at the breakdown, which Hutchinson resources on his own, and sweeps the ball away to Smith:

To rewind slightly, Moodie’s eyes are locked on Smith as Dingwall takes the ball from Hutchinson:

And, as a mark of how compromised the Bulls defence becomes, Mitchell gets the ball to Smith while Moodie is still backpedalling:

Northampton’s third try owed as much to Mitchell’s speed of thought and deed.

Hunting more touches

On the stroke of half-time, Juarno Augustus’s finish immediately seemed a significant moment in the match. Again, watch it through, from Bulls’ overthrown line-out:

Mitchell’s quick tap is a perfect example of his opportunism and ambition, yet he also shows toughness to facilitate the score. Here, as he feeds Langdon, he is met in a heavy tackle by Ruan Vermaak, but bounces up to arrive at the following ruck before selling a dummy and offloading to Augustus:

Scrum-halves talk about scanning before they arrive at the breakdown and Mitchell will have clocked this situation before addressing the ball. Wilco Louw, who has just tackled Langdon, has rolled up into the guard position, pushing Sebastian de Klerk wider. This will have been a cue for Mitchell to run, knowing that he would be able to get to the tighthead prop’s outside shoulder and possibly free his arms:

The dummy helps to buy some separation, with De Klerk edging out, and Mitchell does the rest.

Capitalising on attention

Mitchell’s display in the World Cup semi-final against South Africa last year, where he kicked superbly in stormy conditions and conducted a methodical strategy, represented how well he has rounded out his game.

This next passage begins in a kicking exchange as Hendy comes forward to gather a shallow prod from Willie le Roux. Mitchell initially arcs around from the far side…

…and hits a fantastic 50:22 that puts Saints in striking range:

Watch the next try:

Mitchell’s role might not be immediately obvious, but note his starting position as well as that of Hanekom, one of the Bulls’ best jackallers:

This angle displays how Mitchell feints towards the short side as Langdon charges in the opposite direction to link with Freeman. Hanekom stays on the left of the maul and Freeman powers over:

Later on, more understated accuracy from Mitchell would help Saints seal an admirable bonus-point.

Zigging and zagging

Freeman’s second arrived from a sweet Hutchinson cut-out pass, capping a fine victory:

Mitchell’s role should not be ignored. On the penultimate phase, after he feeds Angus Scott-Young, watch how many times he swivels his head to assess the defence before a simple pass sends Hutchinson arcing around Elrigh Louw:

It is reminiscent of how Mitchell and Freeman caught France napping on the short side during the Six Nations earlier this year:

Defensively, Mitchell endured shaky moments. He could have done far better at the base of the scrum to prevent both of Hanekom’s tries, certainly.

That said, the 27-year-old seems to radiate a free-spirited confidence that spreads throughout the teams he plays in. While there is always the debate over how much this can be translated to Test level, Mitchell impressed for England against Ireland and France during the Six Nations and in the series against New Zealand this year.

He takes pressure away from his fly-halves because of how he draws the attention of fringe defences, yet also knows when to put the ball in the hands of those outside him as quickly as possible.

His connection with Fin Smith will be intriguing for Steve Borthwick as well. There is the option of shifting Marcus Smith to full-back to accommodate Northampton’s half-back partners, which may be more attractive if Furbank faces a long injury lay-off. Fin and Marcus Smith shared the pitch for a short period against Japan, Marcus hitting a first-phase 50:22 following a neat pass from Fin:

Borthwick will be mulling over those backline configurations now, because Feb 1 will come around swiftly. Whatever transpires, the return of Mitchell is a big boost for England.

Match images from Premier Sports