New deal is a home win for Care
DANNY CARE said it was a no-brainer to sign a new deal with Harlequins which will take him into his 19th season at the club.
Care, who will be 38 in January, was courted by Top 14 sides Perpignan and Bayonne but decided to stick at the Stoop where he can give Quins his full attention after retiring from Test rugby in March.
The scrum-half joined from Leeds in 2006 and has gone on to play a record 374 times for Quins, winning Premiership titles in 2012 and 2021 and the European Challenge Cup in 2011
He said: “It was an easy decision to sign the contract. We have a great group of lads who I love playing with, and we’re building something very special.This is my home, I love everything about it, the rugby we play, our amazing fans and the memories we have made together.
“We have the best fans in the world, and I can’t wait to pull on the Quarters for another season and run out in front of a packed Stoop.”
Care has helped Harlequins to the brink of the playoffs, they are fifth with two games to go, and played in Sunday’s Champions Cup 38-26 semi-final defeat by Toulouse.
He, like prop Joe Marler, is one of the older heads in a side that includes rising youngsters such as prop Fin Baxter, centre Oscar Beard and wing Cadan Murley, plus the more experienced fly-half Marcus Smith.
The two veterans are used as a sounding board by the coaching team headed up by director of rugby Billy Millard. Stints as long as Care’s at one club are becoming increasingly scarce in the sport, but the scrumhalf has decided to stay in south west London. rather than chase the euros. Millard said: “I think it is rarer, but I think it creates an onus on the club to create an environment that people don’t want to leave.
“Some of that comes down to salary, but a lot of it comes down to welfare and family support, and just connections and relationships – I wouldn’t under-estimate that.
“He has an amazing knowledge of how Harlequins ticks and all the ups and downs. You can’t replace that off the field, and on the field he plays to our game-plan and he drives the group.”
Care won 101 England caps, spread across 16 years, scoring 15 tries and a drop goal after making his Test debut against New Zealand in Auckland in 2008.