Danny Keir has announced his retirement from England after playing in the Six Nations. Photo: PA/Adam Davey
Danny had a period of Care time in the international desert, where it was almost embarrassing that he was not selected by England, so hot was his stunning form for Harlequins during their title challenge Gallagher Premiership in 2021. England squads came and went without Care's name being mentioned anywhere. to be seen. His performances, of course, were not the reason for this.
It is to Care's credit that he remained generous to Eddie Jones despite the obvious pain of being overlooked while playing for his country at a time when he was playing extraordinarily well. And then, when Jones finally remembered Care for the 2022 summer tour of Australia — Jones's reasoning was that the game had sped up and allowed Care to «play his natural game» — Care was brought in for the third Test in Sydney on 35 minute. . Jones was fired later that year.
Care told the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast after Jones' sacking: «I owe him a lot, obviously I haven't played under him for a number of years but he also gave me my best moment in an England shirt [since 2016] against France to help England win the Grand Slam]. Personally, I will always remember him as one of the greatest coaches I have ever worked with.» Not everyone in such a situation would be so kind.
Even those few difficult years when Care was out of favor under Jones were not enough to deter him from wanting to play for his country. You could see how much it meant when he was included in Steve Borthwick's Rugby World Cup squad. The 14 caps he added to his tally under Borthwick were described by Care in his statement as his happiest time in an England shirt. And Care has been more than just a useful veteran on the team during this recent period; England needed him. A pool game against Samoa at the Rugby World Cup was doomed to fail until Care intervened from the bench. He made a vital tackle around the ankles of Samoa's Neria Fomai at the death, and moments earlier had darted towards the posts to give England the lead in a game where they had run out of fingernails to chew. Not bad for a then 36-year-old scrum-half.
Perhaps this stint in the Test desert has gone some way to contributing to his longevity as a player, but it is worth wondering how many more caps he might have won had his appearances for Harlequins between 2019 and the summer of 2022 been sufficiently rewarded. Ben Youngs' record (127 caps) as England's most capped player will certainly be at risk.
No scrum-half had a longer Test career than Care, from his first cap to his last. New England forward Immanuel Fahey-Waboso was five years old when Care made his England debut during the 2008 tour of New Zealand. Brad Thorne started for the All Blacks that day — he will turn 50 next year.
He did well to continue playing in an England shirt after the 2009 Six Nations after being punished rather harshly for making the team. Marcus Horan's back led to Care being captured by his sins. Martin Johnson famously reacted by punching the chair in front of him. You can probably still make out Johnson's fist print on that Croke Park seat.
Danny Care epitomizes the character, talent and skill required to win 100 caps for England. Read the full text here
Care has played under four head coaches — Johnson, Stuart Lancaster, Jones and Borthwick — and competed in three Rugby World Cups in 2011, 2015 and 2015. 2023. He has never toured with the British and Irish Lions, but has been around for 2021 after playing for Harlequins.
The 2016 Grand Slam game against France was also the match in which he scored the best of his 15 tries for England, noticing that Jefferson Poirot was too slow to approach the ball to protect one side of the ruck and flicked the ball back to score on » Stade de France.» This is indeed true, given that his career is full of brilliant snipers on the outskirts of rucks, destroying defenses.
Not forgets his part in one of England's greatest tries against Ireland at Twickenham, when he was on the shoulder of his old Harlequins teammate Mike Brown and ran past Johnny Sexton and Brian O'Driscoll to score under the bar. Few England midfielders have caused more excitement.
Walking with his children to Twickenham to mark his century of Test caps last week will mean everything to him. This was also well deserved both by his persistence and his talent. Many players, if they had been treated the same way, might have wondered whether the door had closed on their chance to play for England again, but Care's hunger never waned.
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