Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

'He was almost like a second dad, middle of the night phone calls'

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Recalled England scrum-half Danny Care has reflected on his early years at Harlequins, recalling how the London club quickly convinced him to sign and then the invaluable mentorship that was provided Conor O’Shea, the club’s 2011/2012 Premiership title-winning coach. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The 35-year-old from Leeds was this week brought back into the England set-up for the first time since the last of his 84 Test caps in November 2018. He will now provide cover from the bench to Harry Randall in this Sunday’s non-cap international versus the Barbarians and is in with a shout of touring Australia in the coming weeks with his country. 

Care began his professional career with Leeds in 2004 but he switched to Harlequins two years later and he is still there, his compelling form in this season’s 2021/22 Premiership eventually convincing Eddie Jones that he was worth an England recall.  

Video Spacer

Will Skelton on Champions Cup celebrations and playing for the Barbarians | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 38

The big rig Will Skelton joins us from Monaco this week where he’s on tour with the Barbarians and rooming with George Kruis. He fills us in on the tour so far, hanging out at the palace with the Prince and who’s leading the charge off the pitch. We also hear about his man-of-the-match performance for La Rochelle in the Champions Cup Final, that famous open-top bus celebration and what it’s like playing for coaches like O’Gara and Cheika.

Video Spacer

Will Skelton on Champions Cup celebrations and playing for the Barbarians | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 38

The big rig Will Skelton joins us from Monaco this week where he’s on tour with the Barbarians and rooming with George Kruis. He fills us in on the tour so far, hanging out at the palace with the Prince and who’s leading the charge off the pitch. We also hear about his man-of-the-match performance for La Rochelle in the Champions Cup Final, that famous open-top bus celebration and what it’s like playing for coaches like O’Gara and Cheika.

In the build-up to Sunday’s comeback appearance, Care featured in Hell and Back, the story of the 2011/12 Harlequins season that was broadcast by BT Sport on Friday night in the run-up to Saturday’s latest Premiership final, the meeting of Saracens and Leicester.  

In the documentary, Care initially explained how he came to sign for Harlequins at a time when Dean Richards was in charge. “I met with Dean Richards, Andy Friend and Mark Evans and they sold me the club in five minutes. They said, ‘You can do whatever you want, we’re going to build a team around you’.”

Related

Care went on to outline that the treatment of Harlequins by Martin Johnson’s England at the 2011 World Cup became the catalyst for the club’s breakthrough Premiership title win. “There was a few of us at Quins that were either not selected or injured and didn’t go that World Cup. Mike Brown, Chris Robshaw, we all went, ‘Right. Let’s show ’em’.”

By then, O’Shea, the former Ireland full-back, had taken charge at Harlequins and had become an incredible mentor to Care. “Conor obviously came into the club when we were in a little bit of turmoil. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“We needed someone like Conor to steady the ship and set us back on course. Conor, for me, was almost like a second dad. Middle of the night phone calls – he probably got a couple from a couple of police stations with me.” 

Care added that it was a defeat to Leicester in April 2012 that catapulted Harlequins to the title as they knew they did enough in that loss to be able to beat the Tigers where they came across them again in the showpiece Twickenham final.

“Conor was great after that game. He said, ‘I’m so happy, I’m so proud of you’. We were like, ‘We have just lost’. He said, ‘I don’t care, we know how to beat them now’.” He was right. 

  • BT Sport’s Rugby Stories documentary series continued with Hell and Back, the story of the 2011/12 Harlequins season. For more information visit bt.com/sport
  • Here are the latest repeat broadcast details: June 24 – BT Sport 3 (4.3opm); July 11 – BT Sport 1 (10:30pm); July 18: BT Sport 2 (11.0am); Aug 2: BT Sport 1 (8.30am); Aug 9: BT Sport 1 (8.30)
ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

A
Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

11 Go to comments
T
Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of 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 comments
FEATURE
FEATURE Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby? Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?
Search