CARE IN FROM THE COLD FOR SHOT AT LIONS
Young’s withdrawal may open the door
DANNY CARE could be end up being the surprise beneficiary of long-time England rival Ben Youngs’s decision to sit out the Lions tour.
The 34-year-old Harlequin, who last played for England in 2018, is understood to be on Warren Gatland’s radar ahead of Thursday’s squad announcement.
Care, who won 84 England caps, may have been pensioned off by Eddie Jones but he has been in outstanding form for his club and won the Gallagher Premiership player-of-the-month award in March.
His performances have not gone unnoticed by Lions coach Gatland, who will confirm his 36-strong squad this week that is expected to include three scrum-halves.
Care has had to settle for playing second fiddle to Youngs for the final part of his international career under Australian Jones.
But the door has been opened by the Leicester scrumhalf’s choice to opt out of the trip to South Africa on family grounds, with wife Charlotte expecting the couple’s third child. It is the second Lions tour in a row Youngs has missed, having been selected in 2017 only to withdraw before departure to support brother Tom, whose wife was dealing with serious illness. Youngs was one of around 75 players to receive an email last week from the Lions management asking them to confirm their availability for selection. After due consideration, the 31-year-old, who toured Australia with the Lions in 2013, has turned down the invitation.
“I’ve got two young children and my wife is heavily pregnant with the third.
This summer I’ve got an opportunity to be with my family and my kids,” said Youngs, above.
“Whether or not I would have made the final cut, I’ll never know. I have always loved the Lions.
“I’ll be cheering them on and I wish everyone involved a healthy and successful tour.” The absence of the experienced Youngs leaves the selection picture at No.9 in flux.
Six Nations champions Wales have started five different scrum-halves in their past 11 Tests. Tomos Williams, coach Wayne Pivac’s probable first choice, has begun just one of those games.
Ali Price is a fixture at No.9 for Scotland but he would be an unlikely Test scrum-half for the Lions.
Ireland’s Conor Murray was the Test scrum-half for the Lions in New Zealand four years ago but is no longer an automatic choice for his country, with New Zealandborn Jamison Gibson-Park now available to head coach Andy Farrell after qualifying on residency last July.
The position may be the Lions’ weakest, which is a concern given the fact that South Africa can call upon arguably the world’s best scrum-half in Sale’s Faf de Klerk.