Danny Care picked out by Eddie Jones to be a leading light for England

Vice-captain: Danny Care
Getty Images,
Michael Alwin9 June 2017

All the talk before England’s First Test here tomorrow has been of the young tyros selected for their first caps — 11 of them in the squad of 23.

But as notable is the elevation to senior citizenship of scrum-half Danny Care, who wins his 72nd England cap and is appointed one of the vice-captains so favoured by England coach Eddie Jones.

The Harlequins captain has thrived since his career stood at a crossroads five years ago. Stuart Lancaster, his mentor at Leeds, found himself having to exclude Care from the England squad he had just taken over, while Care answered three drink-related charges in early 2012.

Those turbulent times appear to have been the making of the 30-year-old, who edges closer to Matt Dawson’s 77 caps, the England record for scrum-halves. He has engaged in a long-running battle with Ben Youngs for the No9 shirt, settling of late into a role off the bench as one of Jones’ “finishers”.

In Youngs’ absence, he starts here and, with the uncapped Jack Maunder in support on the bench, may well finish as one of Dylan Hartley’s three vice-captains.

“Danny has always been a leader in his own right,” says the England captain. “For me he has always brought a great energy. I have played with him for a good 10 years and he has always been a good guy to have around. For these young guys, to have people like Danny to look up to is crucial.”

Between them, Hartley and Care hold nearly half of the 345 caps of England’s starting XV. The Pumas field a formidable 528 and are already up to speed in their guise as the Jaguares of Super Rugby.

Hartley is joined in the front row by the uncapped Harry Williams on one side and Ellis Genge on the other, who has just the one cap. Care will be picking the ball out from the feet of a back row with eight caps between them, all owned by Nathan Hughes at No8. Hughes is flanked by the uncapped Mark Wilson and Tom Curry, the latter the youngest player, at 18 years 360 days, to make his England debut since Jonny Wilkinson.

Curry signed professional terms with Sale only in March but the forward showed his potential in England’s victory over the Barbarians last month, being named man of the match in the exhibition game.

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