England hooker George ruled out of Six Nations opener

England vice-captain Jamie George has been ruled out of the Six Nations opener against defending champions Ireland on February 1, the Rugby Football Union announced on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old hooker, who last week was replaced by Maro Itoje as captain, suffered a hamstring injury in Saracens' Champions Cup defeat by Castres on Sunday.

Northampton scrum-half Alex Mitchell sustained a knee problem against Munster but could yet feature against Ireland after being taken to the squad's pre-championship training camp in Spain to continue his rehabilitation.

Northampton lock Alex Coles, Leicester scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and Harlequins No 8 Alex Dombrandt have also been ruled out of the match in Dublin.

Curtis Langdon (Northampton), Arthur Clark (Gloucester), Ben Spencer (Bath), Henry Pollock (Northampton), and Raffi Quirke (Sale) have been called into the squad by England coach Steve Borthwick.

"We've had to make a few amendments these last 24 hours as every coach needs to," said Borthwick, speaking later Tuesday at the Six Nations launch in Rome.

"There's always adaptations you need to make. And I think the nature of international rugby is good adaptation."

The former England captain added: "And I think some players (now) have an opportunity they didn't think was coming their way. And I think when a player gets that, some of them grab it with both hands and don't let go."