Scrum-half Van Poortvliet has come back from his year of hell better than ever according to his attack coach at Leicester, Peter Hewat.
Van Poortvliet had a season to forget after his World Cup and Six Nations were wrecked by a horror ankle break and just failed to make the England summer tour cut.
The 23-year-old has hit the ground running this campaign, captaining Tigers last week against Bath, and putting himself back in the Test frame.
He was one of three scrum-halves named in Borthwick’s 36-man training squad for this week’s camp alongside Harry Randall, of Bristol, and Bath’s Ben Spencer.
And Hewat reckons Borthwick will see a different Van Poortvliet at Bagshot and Twickenham and a player who is taking advantage of the recent tweaks in the laws.
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