TAKE CARE OF MY STAR
Smith potential thrills Danny 30pt Inter Blk Cond
DANNY CARE says Marcus Smith will get “better and better” when Harlequins kick off their reign as English champions.
Bookmakers give them little chance of repeating their shock title triumph in the new Premiership season, which starts on Friday.
Saracens, Exeter, Bristol and Sale are priced far shorter than Quins, who defied every expectation to lift the trophy in June.
Yet in Smith, the Londoners have a 22-year-old fly-half so rich in talent that Care already regards him as a “franchise” player.
The former England scrum-half said: “Marcus is a one-of-a-kind special talent, the sort of a player you build a club around.
“I tell you, people will come and play for this club because of him. If club and country look after him well, he could be a superstar.”
In January, Smith was an uncapped half-back playing for a team struggling in the lower half of England’s top flight.
Five months later Quins were champions after spectacular play-off wins over Bristol and Exeter – and first England then the Lions selected him.
“He is the real deal and is only going to get better,” said Care.
“That’s why Marcus gets paid the big bucks. That’s why the club have invested heavily in him and everyone’s talking about him. I know from speaking to a few of the Lions lads they were blown away by his rugby brain. He and Owen Farrell hit it off really well. That’s a really good sign for England.” Harlequins’ task is made immeasurably harder by the return of Saracens after their yearlong Championship sentence for salary cap breaches.
Exeter, finalists for the past six years, are bent on revenge after being beaten at Twickenham. And Quins, who lost almost nobody to international call-ups last season, will undoubtedly give up key men this time round.
But Care is not about to surrender the crown – not while Joe Marler is on the team sheet. “This year is a different kettle of fish, our strength-in-depth is going to have to step up,” he said. “But we still have Joe, who was sensational last season. “Him not playing for England in the Six Nations is the reason we got into the top four. And his performances towards the end of the season were the reason we won the league.
“I look at our odds and nobody is giving us a chance, but that’s fine by us. “The club have learnt from 2012 when we won the league and sat still. “We know there is a target on our backs. The young lads in this team are so ambitious. For them, once is not enough.”