'They score two and you’re like, Oh no, please don’t be my fault’

The energy in the Marseille mixed zone on Sunday evening was infectious. There were Hollywood-type England smiles everywhere. Danny Care soon stopped by and quickly encapsulated the giddy vibe of a campaign that began with them written off yet they were now Paris-bound by train on Monday afternoon for a Rugby World Cup semi-final.

He didn’t know it at the time – Sunday’s second quarter-final had yet to kick-off – but England have secured a last-four showdown with South Africa, the country they lost to in the 2019 final in Yokohama.

It’s quite the long-haul distance between Japan and France but nothing like the journey that the veteran scrum-half had to take on to work his way back into the England selection. He had been tossed on the scrap heap four years ago, unwanted, unloved and excluded by Eddie Jones.

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The Australian last year invited him back from the wilderness into a group that is now headed up by Steve Borthwick and, standing at a railing after emerging from the Stade Velodrome dressing room corridor, Care was bubbling with the excitement of being in the thick of it again with England back in the big time.

“I was at home, I was just watching, I was a spectator,” he said when asked what exactly he was doing when England were living it large without him in Japan. “It was tough watching, it was that fear of missing out but genuinely, the last six months I have been back in (under Borthwick) I have loved every minute.

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“I didn’t want the journey to end yet, I still don’t want it to end now. I have got two more weeks and a massive game to fly into this weekend, which will be the biggest game of my life. I can’t wait.”

The 36-year-old has suddenly found his groove. Last weekend in Lille, he stepped from the bench to score the decisive converted try in the 18-17 win over Samoa. Not only that, but he also raced like a 100-metre sprinter to execute a tackle 75 seconds from time to safeguard that one-point lead with the Samoans just metres away from the try line and victory.

His activity was flipped the other way on Sunday, the hairy moments arriving first with Fiji pouncing for two score-levelling converted tries before Care then calmly delivered the pass for Owen Farrell to drop goal England back in front in a quarter-final they were to ultimately win 30-24.

The lead-taking assist didn’t prompt Care into reprising his Alan Shearer-like celebration from Lille. “Not this time, I’ll let Owen do that,” he quipped, relieved that his introduction off the bench for Alex Mitchell hadn’t ended with a game-losing England capitulation.

“Yeah, there was obviously a couple of nerves. When you come off the bench and suddenly they score two early and you’re like, ‘Oh no, please don’t be my fault’, but we managed to wrest back the momentum. Some of the lads, the shift they put in. Ben Earl, Jamie George, Courtney (Lawes), Maro (Itoje), just to name a few of them. Exceptional performances.

“Ben Earl having the energy to nearly score one of the greatest World Cup tries ever. We found a way to wrestle the game back into our hands, go six points up and dig in and then Courtney gets the turnover at the end. Special feeling.

“The character of this team was questioned before the World Cup; if we had anything in us to come out and do anything. We have quietly gone about our business, ticked off a few wins, four from four in the pool, we are in the quarter-final against a team that everyone was saying were going to surprise us and beat us, but it’s all about next weekend now and we know we are going to have to play incredibly well.

“It’s an evolving English team. We knew we weren’t performing the way we needed to but something clicked when we got over here. Training went up a notch, just the severity of where we were and the realisation that it’s a World Cup, let’s have a go.

"I don’t really care what other people think of us, I care about the development of the team…"

– The Steve Borthwick reaction to England beating Fiji and reaching the Rugby World Cup semi-final versus South Africa. #ENGvFIJ #RWC2023 #EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/W9H8gsWT2y

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 15, 2023

“A few lads’ last one, a few lads’ first one. That mixture came together, we gave it our all and we feel like we deserve to be here. We are going to give it our all next weekend to make everyone back home proud.”

Care did that in Marseille with his own family watching from afar. “They’re not here, it was a bit of a nightmare getting them down to Marseille but hopefully Paris will be a little bit easier and the Care family will come over in their hundreds for that one I think. It will be good fun.

“We’re one step closer to the dream that we talked about. It’s going to be one hell of a game but I thought we deserved it against Fiji, the boys started brilliantly. Fiji had a couple of purple patches which they do because they are brilliant. Some of their players are unbelievable. Some of the skill they have is exceptional, but we found a way to get back in the game and saw them off at the end.

“We have worked very hard the last pretty much five months we have been away from home. Steve and his coaches have been drilling into us about working for each other and staying in the fight and fighting for each other and you should do that any minute you are wearing an England shirt… Every time I wear this shirt I’ll play like it could be my last time. I’m really glad to be facing a World Cup semi-final next weekend. I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Care knows how fortunate he is having seen the No1-ranked Ireland eliminated by the All Blacks. “I thought that was one of the greatest World Cup games ever. Neither team deserved to lose. Ireland, your heart goes out to them because they were brilliant. If one of those balls sticks it could have been a completely different story.

“But when you are playing in knockout footy you are playing against teams like New Zealand who can score a try in an instant. It’s all about the here and now, the 80 minutes, anything can happen. It’s a game of rugby and whoever we are playing next week we are going to embrace the challenge and fly into it.”

It’s now over a decade since Care first started passing Test level balls to Farrell. The England skipper is a marmite figure – he was booed when his name was read out on the stadium screen pre-game – but the Harlequins No9 has nothing but the height of respect for his country’s captain.

“Owen was brilliant as George (Ford) has been brilliant for four games. Owen was the guy in the shirt, who led us brilliantly. He has led brilliantly the whole time as our captain when he was unavailable for us but to have him out there you feel safe, you’re in safe hands with him there.

“He got us around the field brilliantly, took the three (points) when we needed it. His kicking was brilliant, and defensively amazing as well so we are blessed with a few good 10s.

“If you are not on it you know about it with Owen. I have played with Owen for 10, 12 years now and his levels never dip both on and off the pitch. Unbelievable person, unbelievable player, still think he won’t get the recognition he probably deserves until he stops playing which I find incredible, but he has shown again and again and again what a wonderful world-class player he is.

“He is a brilliant human being, amazing dad, amazing person, amazing friend and I’m so proud and pleased to see him back in this shirt and leading us the way Owen does which is different to anyone.”