Care grabs his chance with style
But Youngs rivalry continues
WHEN Danny Care stormed away from the French defence, his diving finish for England’s first try was an understandable act of exuberance. He had waited long enough for an occasion of this magnitude.
In simple terms, this was surely the biggest match of Care’s Test career — and there has been plenty of it. The Harlequins scrum-half was winning his 58th cap at the Stade de France last night, but none of the previous 57 can have had such profound meaning. At the age of 29, he has been through more than his share of turbulence and this was the time for a high to trump all the previous lows.
Eddie Jones had picked Care at No 9 for his first Test in charge, against Scotland at Murrayfield, but then Ben Youngs had been preferred for three successive rounds of this RBS Six Nations. It was a continuation of the rivalry between the pair which dates back to the Leicester player’s international emergence back in 2010.
It is fair to say that, having been recalled to the starting XV, Care wanted to put a marker down once again. ‘It is up to me to come in and do my thing for the team this weekend and hopefully we go there and get a win,’ he said, after being named. ‘We want to play quickly, we want to play a fast-paced game and that is maybe why he has given me the shout.’
Sure enough, he proved as much in the 12th minute. Care had already raced up in support of Mike Brown when his Quins team-mate burst clear on the left, only to over-throw the inside pass which would have given England’s No 9 a clear run to the line.
But when his chance came, Care took it with aplomb. When Jonathan Joseph broke towards the 22 and was tackled, bodies flew into the ruck but Care was scanning for an opening. He took the ball at the base and was gone. He had too much speed for the France cover defence and the joyous sprint led to that final flourish; the swallow dive.
He deserved it. There had been enough bad days, but he kept coming back. A sign of the perennial dual with Youngs was the fact that, of his 58 Tests, Care has started 30 and been a replacement for 28. He has been in and out; favoured and held back. The pendulum has swung one way then back the other.
During last year’s World Cup, which caused so much English angst, he had been powerless to intervene after finding himself third choice behind Youngs and Richard Wigglesworth. When Stuart Lancaster finally gave him a run against Uruguay, after the hosts’ goose had been cooked, it was a sign of what it meant to Care that he gave body and soul in the dead rubber. No wonder, he had missed the 2011 tournament after breaking a toe just before the squad was finalised.
Months later, his path to redemption was temporarily blocked when Lancaster threw him out of the Test squad in disgrace for alcohol-related offences. But he expressed his remorse, served his time in exile, learned his lessons and came again.
Yet the struggle for fulfilment will go on. Last night, Care was taken off just after half-time and watched as Youngs brilliantly teed up a try for Anthony Watson. The rivalry remains strong and every occasion such as this will be hard-earned.