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The Springbok rival that's kept Danny Care's England World Cup dream alive
Scrumhalf Danny Care is taking inspiration from Faf de Klerk’s return from test exile to power his bid to help England win the World Cup in Japan.
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De Klerk used his outstanding form for Sale to convince in-coming Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus to bring him back from the test wilderness last year and the scrumhalf has become absolutely vital to South Africa’s bid for another Cup triumph in Japan.
Care will go head-to-head with de Klerk when fourth placed Harlequins face Sale, in sixth, in a key Gallagher Premiership clash on Friday night knowing England head coach Eddie Jones is constantly watching.
Jones dropped Care for the Six Nations opting for Dan Robson, now out with blood clots in his leg, and Saracens Ben Spencer to back up Ben Youngs while Richard Wigglesworth is also in the mix. Care played in just one pool game during England’s disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign and knows Japan will be his last chance of glory. Care told RugbyPass: “It would be my last shot at a World Cup and I do feel I have never had a proper crack at one and so I am desperate to be there and desperate to win the World Cup.”
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The frustrations of four years ago are bubbling under the surface and adding to Care’s desire to prove he deserves to regain the England No.9 jersey just as de Klerk did with the Springboks. Care is a big fan of de Klerk’s play as it revolves around a scrumhalf prepared to back his own judgement.
Care said: “Faf is the kind of player I like to watch and the type of player I like to be. We have had a couple of good battles already and I am looking forward to going up against him again on Friday night. In a way I see little bit of me in him when I first came onto the scene, tapping everything and having a go. I enjoy watching him because that is how I think a scrumhalf should play and the team revolves around Faf because he sets the tempo. Every time he plays he has a good game.
“From the moment Faf came over I really liked what was about as a scrumhalf and the fact he doesn’t think too much, plays on instinct and backs himself. That is probably his biggest strength and he backs his decision making. We are fully aware of the danger he poses and will have to defend well against him. Sale are always physical and they will try and make it very tough. We have to go there and impose our game on Sale and try and get what would be an important win.”
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England are in a unique position being able to call upon two scrumhalves with more than 80 caps each with record holder Youngs on 85 and Care with 84. Only New Zealand come anywhere close to matching that kind of test experience through Aaron Smith (82) and TJ Perenara (55). Will Genia has 100 caps for Australia but is out on his own like Ireland’s Conor Murray (72) and Greig Laidlaw, of Scotland, with 71.
Care believes he forms a good partnership with Youngs whose Leicester team are struggling to find their form. “I have been around a while and I think I know how to win big games with my experience” added Care. “We have got lots of experience with me and Ben and it’s worked before as a combination and I admire and respect him as a player.
“We bounce off each other and all I can do is wait to see what happens, but I believe I can add to the team and offer something for the World Cup and I will be trying my hardest to make the coaches pick me.
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“I had a chat to Eddie Jones last week following the Saracens game and he wants to see me playing well and we will then see what happens in the summer. All I can focus on is myself and put my hand up for selection and I believe I can offer things different to the other scrumhalves around. I need to play well for Quins to improve my chances of getting in the World Cup squad which is my aim.
Comments on RugbyPass
Well that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
2 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
2 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
2 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
18 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
18 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to comments