Danny Care joins The Telegraph
How my World Cup dream was ended Why it hurts more that Heinz replaced me
On a family holiday to Rhodes, Danny Care was lying on a sun lounger when the text message arrived from Eddie Jones asking him to call as soon as possible. He knew what was coming. Phone conversations with Jones do not involve any exchange of pleasantries or chats about the weather. If the England head coach rings, it is generally to impart bad news. Despite being half tempted to ignore the message, Care called back. The conversation lasted less than a minute and confirmed his fears. He had been left out of the World Cup training squad.
For the third consecutive tournament, England’s second most capped scrum-half faced the prospect of having his nose pressed up against the glass of the sport’s showpiece event. His burning ambition of winning a World Cup, which had fuelled his 11-year international career, was seemingly at an end.
“When you see the name, you know what is going to happen,” said Care, who will contribute columns to The Telegraph during the World Cup. “I am big enough and it has happened to me enough times that I can accept it. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like it always does when you are dropped. Particularly for a World Cup. That’s my last chance to play in one.
“It was not anger, just disappointment that this had been my aim for so long. Since I won my first cap in 2008, the reason I was there was to win a World Cup with England. I never really had a proper crack to help the team to do that. In 2015, I sat in the stands and didn’t touch a ball before we were out. Since Eddie came in, , he p put a clock up on the wall counting down the weeks, days and hours until the World Cup final. I felt I was part of that mission and now I am not there to finish it off.”
It is difficult to discern the logic behind Jones’s scrum-half selections. For three years, Care
and Ben Youngs ex exclusively shared the No 9 shirt. The Then in World Cup year, Care was jett jettisoned with Ben Spencer and Willi Heinz, who between them th then possessed three caps to C Care’s 84, included in the training squad. Gloucester’s H Heinz was eventually ch chosen for the final World Cup sq squad.
It would h have hurt no matter who was selected instead of h him, but Care is honest eno enough to admit that the pain is that much sharper fo for it being Heinz, who spent the first 29 years of his life in Christchurch, New Zealand, and qualifies for England through his grandmother. “I would be lying if I said it didn’t sting a little bit more,” Care said. “It took me by surprise that they had gone for Willi. That’s not his fault.
“I have got nothing against Willi. He is a nice guy. I’ve met him a few times, played against him a few times. I never knew he had aspirations to play for England. I never knew he could play for England. When he came into that Barbarians week, he took me back a bit because I didn’t know how long he had been in the country or that he had an English grandmother.
“It was interesting to see him there and then to get the call ahead of you … obviously it hurts. I think with people from other countries, I have probably never experienced it