Jack van Poortvliet: England scrum-half 'devastated' to miss World Cup through injury
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Jack van Poortvliet had been expected to start England's World Cup opener against Argentina on 9 September
Jack van Poortvliet says he is "devastated" to have been ruled out of England's World Cup squad.
The Leicester Tigers scrum-half will miss the tournament in France with an ankle injury that requires surgery.
Van Poortvliet, 22, sustained the injury in the 19-17 warm-up win over Wales last Saturday, and his squad place has been taken by Alex Mitchell.
"I'm absolutely devastated not to be going. It's been a hard couple of days," he told BBC Radio Leicester.
Van Poortvliet, who has 14 caps, had been the main scrum-half during England's Six Nations campaign and started the recent game with Wales at Twickenham.
His departure means Northampton's Mitchell has joined Ben Youngs and Danny Care as the three number nines in Steve Borthwick's 33-man squad for next month's tournament.
'Come back stronger and better'
In the meantime, the Leicester player has been coming to terms with his World Cup absence.
"When I knew I wasn't going, I wanted to get home to family as quickly as possible," Van Poortvliet said.
"To be able to come back and have a big picture realisation has helped me a lot.
"At the time I thought it was the end of the world, but there's a lot more to life.
"I know I can use this opportunity to come back a lot stronger and better, and come back a lot more rounded person than I was before."
Van Poortvliet has scored two tries in his 14 England caps
'Humbled by support'
Van Poortvliet was inundated with messages of support when news of his injury broke.
Having been picked up from the England camp by his mum, the Norwich-born player spent the whole of the journey home replying to them.
That support has been a source of comfort, given that his biggest rugby ambition was taken away from him, as he awaits to start the recovery process with his operation in a few weeks.
"Obviously I'm absolutely gutted as I had dreamed about playing in the World Cup my whole life," he said.
"To have that taken away at this moment was really hard.
"I was incredibly humbled and really appreciated all the support I got. It meant a lot."