Why Danny Care is gearing up for the father of all battles in pursuit of his World Cup dream
Harlequin Care is England’s senior No.9 with 50 caps, three more than Ben Youngs, but discovered his status counted for nothing last November when he was ruthlessly axed after indifferent displays against New Zealand and South Africa.
Now, with the World Cup fewer than three months away, Care, 28, has a final chance to redeem himself and ensure the family photo albums carry lasting memories for son Blake, whose first birthday comes three weeks before the final.
“There’s definitely a fear of not getting picked,” Care told The Rugby Paper, “but what’s inspiring me more than anything is to try to make my son proud and, hopefully, he’ll be at Twickenham in October watching his dad win the World Cup.
“It would be huge for me and my partner, Jodie, who is so good in understanding I need to be focused on my rugby every day, and for Blake to just experience a World Cup match, even though he wouldn’t know much about it.
“It means everything to be a dad and I just want him to be proud of me. I’m dying to be involved, having missed out through injury in 2011, so this is the one I want to play in and it’s going to be an unbelievable opportunity for all the lads involved.
“To play in a home World Cup with the squad and coaches we have, we’ve got a great chance to do well and I believe we can win it.
“I definitely want to be part of that so I’m working hard to be in the best shape to, hopefully, get picked in that final 31.”
An autumn period that began so well for Care turned into a horror show when, following defeat in the first match against the All Blacks, his loose pass in game two allowed Jan Serfontein an easy intercept to set the Springboks on the road to a 31-28 victory.
“There were a few highs and lows last season and that was a low,” Care admitted.
“To win my 50th cap against South Africa was obviously a massive achievement and huge honour, but I didn’t get picked by England for the rest of the year, which was tough to take.
“I’d been really looking forward to it and got my shot at being first choice in those first two games, playing against the best sides in the world, and then the week after I wasn’t even involved in the squad at all and it’s never much fun being dropped.
“There are other lads pushing and fighting for places and the strength of England’s squad is so high that if you make one mistake, those lads come in and get a chance. They played Samoa and Australia, got two wins, and all of a sudden I’m out.
“I tried to keep knocking on the door and hoped for a sniff in the Six Nations, but it wasn’t to be and it’s hard to get back in. Now I’m in the training squad my goal is to work hard, show my worth and get back in the team in time for this World Cup.”
At his livewire best, Care is the most dangerous scrum-half in England, his darts from the base having become a hallmark of Harlequins’ fast-paced game.
Unfortunately for the former Leeds Tyke, matters did not going well for his club either.
He said: “It was a hard year for Quins and we didn’t play as well as we should have. We suffered injuries and lost key players at key times to internationals, but overall we weren’t good enough and didn’t deserve to be fighting for the title.
“The stuff at Harlequins wasn’t brilliant and we definitely weren’t flying, so that made it an even harder year. In the grand scheme of things, my son was born and that made the year a heck of a lot better, but rugby-wise it could have been more enjoyable.”
Care believes consistency is now key to his World Cup dream, adding: “I’ve had my one-on-one with Stuart Lancaster and he’s looking forward to me fighting for my spot – and that’s exactly what I intend to do, rather than moan.
“He’s told me it’s an open field, with 50 of us fighting for 31 spaces, and it’s going to be a great competition between myself, Youngsy, Richard Wigglesworth and Lee Dickson, with us all working hard and pushing each other to get better over the summer.
“Stuart’s said I’ve got to get consistency into my game and do everything well, not just doing the basics well, but by being as fit as I can be to keep going for 80 minutes, so I was back in camp two weeks early to ensure all the cobwebs were shaken off.
“Pre-season’s the best time to get fitter and stronger and I think this summer they’re going to make us stronger and fitter than we’ve ever been! But it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity we’ve got and no one, me included, will leave any stone unturned.”
Of his forthcoming battle with Youngs, Wigglesworth and Dickson, Care said: “It’s a friendly rivalry and no one will do anything out of order to get one over anyone else.
“All we can ask is that the coaches pick the best players and at the end of the day we’re at a level as friends and professionally where you’d be happy for someone else being selected.
“You’d obviously be bitterly disappointed if you didn’t get picked, but you’d be the first to shake their hand and say, ‘well done’. In the meantime, we’ll be pushing each other really hard and that goes for every position throughout this England squad.
“That’s the culture Stuart’s put in and everyone’s fighting for the same goal.
“It’s not just about the final 31, either, injuries will happen in World Cups so everyone’s got to stay connected with the task in hand and be ready, which is what we’re all striving to be.”
Talk of winning trophies is usually taboo within clubs and national teams but, to his credit, Care is refreshingly honest when asked if, like elite athletes are often encouraged to do, he has envisaged standing on the Twickenham podium, Webb Ellis Cup in hand?
“I’d be a liar if I said I’d never thought about lifting the trophy,” he said.
“It’s obviously every boy’s dream to play in a World Cup, but in your mind you’re lifting the trophy and it would be an unbelievable achievement to do it on home soil.
“You can definitely dare to dream about that sort of stuff and I really do think that we’ve got the ability to win it.
“That’s easy to say, I know, and there are some pretty good players around the world who’ll be trying to stop us, but we’ve got to believe we can do it.
“Seeing the standard of the lads in the squad and the amount of talent that’s on show – and that’s not even counting the guys who aren’t here – we’ve got a lot of hard work in front of us but we know we’ve got it in us to beat all the other teams.
“Coming into a home World Cup I think the Twickenham factor is going to be huge, and having 75,000-80,000 cheering for us has to count for something. It’ll be a bit like the 2012 Olympics, hopefully it will drive us athletes to do some pretty special things.”
Maintaining tempo is key to Care’s game and, along with his experience, he hopes those will prove to be his trump cards when final selection arrives.
Care added: “I’ve been around the England scene for eight years now and I hope that counts for a bit.
“I like to play quickly, create opportunities, play with a bit of tempo and I can score a couple of tries now and again, which is a pretty good strength of mine.
“My experience is something I’ll use as a driver and I’m the most experienced scrum-half in the camp internationally, so, hopefully, that’s all in my favour.
“Yes, there’s definitely a fear factor – a fear of not being in the room any more – and we talk about ‘staying in the room’ a lot.
“Everyone appreciates that and knows what this World Cup means, so you want to stick around as long as you can and be part of it.
“There are going to be a lot of disappointed lads. I just hope I’m not one of them.”
NEALE HARVEY
