Danny Care determined to prove he is the man

Danny Care is a changed man and says the alcohol-fuelled misdemeanours that caused him to be dumped from England’s 2012 Six Nations squad by Stuart Lancaster helped mould him into the more mature individual and player he is today.
With just 12 games remaining until England kick-off their 2015 World Cup campaign against Fiji, Harlequins scrum-half Care is in pole position to fulfil a lifetime ambition of occupying the Red Rose starting jersey at next year’s global gathering.
But he readily admits he might never have reached this point had he not turned his life around in the aftermath of incidents in early 2012 that culminated in him being banned for drunken-driving and then arrested for being drunk and disorderly.
“Everyone’s got their own story and goes through good and bad times,” Care, 27, told The Rugby Paper. “It’s part of life, part of growing up and I wouldn’t change what’s happened because it’s made me the player and person I am today. I learnt from those experiences, went back and worked on my game and took my rugby a lot more seriously.
“I wanted to be playing for my country, which is the ultimate honour, and to be No.9 for England at the World Cup. Trying to win a World Cup is the ultimate dream so I’ll do anything I can to keep playing well and keep making people proud.
“But, as with any player who doesn’t get picked for a squad through his own wrongdoing, you always question how you’re going to get back in. The coaches, especially Stuart, made it very clear that if I got my rugby talking again and did my stuff on the pitch the door wasn’t shut, but it was still a bit of an eye-opener when I didn’t get picked.
“Stuart got very frustrated knowing I wasn’t fulfilling my potential and it was a horrible feeling being left out, so I’ll never let that happen again. I learnt pretty quickly what was unacceptable and what being an England rugby player is all about.”
Care reveals the depth of gratitude he owes to Lancaster and Harlequins boss Conor O’Shea, below, for guiding him through his personal crisis, adding: “I’ve known Stuart since I was 14 and I’m still as scared of him now as I was back then. He still gives you that look when he’s not happy but he’s a coach who helped me and I want to play for.
“Conor, too, is like a second dad to me. He’s a brilliant bloke, a great coach and the most positive man you’ll meet. He believes in his players and he told me to concentrate on rugby, which is what I’ve done.”
Care will be in the vanguard of an England side that urgently needs to make a statement by knocking-off the Southern Hemisphere’s big guns.
A fruitless summer saw Lancaster’s side arrive home from New Zealand defeated three times, while South Africa have not been beaten by England in 11 attempts since November 2006.
“Massively key,” is how Care describes the forthcoming series. “We need to be beating the big teams, especially at home, and we’ve got the best team in the world first up and South Africa second.
“We beat New Zealand two years ago and they lost to South Africa recently, so neither is invincible and there are areas we can challenge them in. We’ll back ourselves to get there and push them come World Cup time as well.”
Care’s past troubles kicked-in when he missed the 2011 World Cup after damaging a toe in the final warm-up match against Wales.
He aims to make amends, adding: “That was brutal. I’d been in the squad for four years building up to it, so to be that close and miss out was hard to swallow.
“But that, and what happened after it, have made me even more hungry to try and take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in a home World Cup. That will be unbelievable and the challenge is to make sure I’m the one being picked.”
NEALE HARVEY