Danny Care convinced Eddie Jones to re-call him over coffee
Danny Care followed up his electric form for Harlequins with a convincing pitch to Eddie Jones that has resulted in his recall for Sunday’s uncapped match against the Barbarians at Twickenham.
Nearly four years after making the last of his 84 Test appearances, the 35-year-old is poised to make his comeback off the bench as scrum-half back up to Harry Randall.
Care has been an influential figure in Quins’ resurgence over the last two seasons and is among the Premiership’s most creative players, but a disagreement with Jones after a victory over Japan in 2018 appeared to have ended his international career.
Tearing up defences kept him on Jones’ radar, however, and when the two met in April he convinced England’s head coach that he was worth another shot.
“Danny has great desire. After a game recently I texted him to say ‘well played’ as I thought he played really well. He came back and said he’d love to catch up,” Jones said.
“We had a coffee and he was very adamant on how keen he was to play for England. Then you get a bit more interested. We’ve been watching him carefully and felt he deserved another opportunity.”
Care has produced more try assists than any other Premiership player for the last two seasons and Jones believes his high-tempo style makes him an asset at a time when the sport has become faster.
“The game has changed and the ruck speed suits him,” said Jones, who declined to say if Care was under consideration to tour Australia next month.
“The speed of the ball now allows him to play his natural game, whereas when the ruck ball was slower you have to artificially create attacking situations. He is brilliant at the natural attacking situations.”
A potent weapon in Quins’ arsenal has been Care’s half-back combination with Marcus Smith, but Jones insists there are still shortcomings in their partnership.
“They need to develop it. I’ve had a word with them. They need to get tighter. They need to feed off each other better. There’s huge scope for improvement,” he said.
Jonny May and Joe Cokanasiga return to the wings after seeing their opportunities this season limited by spells in rehabilitation.
May sat out the Six Nations following a knee operation while Cokanasiga has not played for England since suffering his second major knee injury in pre-season.
Although very different wings, they are united by having a point to prove to Jones who on Monday names his squad for the three Test series against the Wallabies.
“Jonny’s been fantastic. One of those older experienced players, he’s still got plenty left in him. He’s got another at least five per cent growth in him,” Jones said.
“We’ll see on Sunday if he’s ready for Australia. That’s the beauty of Sunday’s game. He hasn’t played for a long time.
“It wouldn’t matter if the game was being played on Mars, if Joe was playing well he’d be useful.”
London Irish’s 19-year-old sensation Henry Arundell was ruled out of the match by an unspecified injury, while Jones revealed that former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen made a social visit to England’s camp.
Comments on RugbyPass
Brayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to comments