'Eddie texted, I thought I'd shoot my shot and see what happens'
Danny Care intends to take full advantage of his surprise England recall by throwing off the shackles of overthinking. Care came on as a second-half replacement in Sunday’s rout by the Barbarians at Twickenham, ending his near four-year international exile that was a result of falling out with Eddie Jones in 2018. The 35-year-old hopes to add to his 84 caps in the three-Test series against Australia, which launches in Perth on July 2, as his comeback gathers momentum through his inclusion in Jones’ 36-man touring party.
Shortlisted for Gallagher Premiership player of the season, Care has been a star of Harlequins’ resurgence and his high-tempo attacking game is seen as ideal for the hard surfaces Down Under. “I don’t know how long it’s going to last but one thing I’ll do is make sure I give it my all. Any opportunity I get I’ll try and take it and help the young lads out.
"I’m loving it,” he said. “It’s something you think will never happen again. Deep down you go: ‘Maybe there’s a chance’. I’ve just tried to enjoy it and love every second of it. When you’ve been in it like I was for quite a while, you appreciate what you do, you’re playing for England. But when you can’t do that anymore, can’t get back in, it makes you want it even more.
"When I got back in I realised just how amazing it is to be able to go to Twickenham and see all those fans. I definitely think I’m a better player now than I was four years ago. Even three years ago. The main thing I’ve been trying to focus on is enjoyment, getting the most out of the game, and trying to help the team.
"That frees me up because when I’m not thinking about things too much - that’s my type of game, the instinctive type of game. When I overthink stuff I don’t play my best rugby.”
Care’s international career appeared to be finished in the wake of a convincing victory over Japan at Twickenham in 2018 when a sharp exchange of words with Jones caused a rift, but bridges were built in April. “Eddie texted me around my 250th Premiership game, said congrats about that, and I thought I’d shoot my shot and see what happens. I had nothing to lose,” Care said.
“We met for a coffee, had a great chat, talked about life, how the game was going. He was complimentary about how I was playing, so I was happy with that. I laid it on the line and said I’d give anything to have another chance and help the team. I think I can. He said, ‘Play well and we’ll see what happens’.”
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What do you mean should?
Are you asking these questions because you think they are important reasons a player should decide to represent a country?
I think that is back the front. They are good reasons why someone 'would' be able to choose Fiji (say in the case of Mo'unga's cousin who the Drua brought into their environment), but not reason's why they "should". Those need to be far more personal imo.
If you think it was me suggesting he "should" play for Fiji, I certainly wasn't suggesting that. I was merely suggesting he would/could because ther'ye very close to his heart with his dad having represented them.
I did go on to say the right sort of environment should be created to encourage them to want to represent Fiji (as with case of their european stars it's always a fine balance between wanting to play for them and other factors (like compared with personal develop at their club). but that is also not trying to suggest those players should want to play for Fiji simply because you make the prospect better, you're simply allowing for it to happen.
TLDR I actually sent you to the wrong post, I was thinking more about my reply to HU's sentiments with yours. Instead of running you around I'll just paste it in
Actually I can't remember if it was that message or whether it indeed was my hypothetical Fiji example that I wanted to suggest would improve the International game, not cheapen it.
I suppose I have to try and explain that idea further now. So you say it cheapens the game. They game is already "cheap" when a nation like Fiji is only really allowed to get their full team going in a WC year. Or even it's the players themselves only caring about showing up in a WC year. To me this is a problem because a Fiji campaign/season isn't comparable to their competitors (in a situation where they're say ranked in the top 8. Take last year for instance. Many stars were absent of the Pacific Nations Cup, for whatever reason, but hey, when their team is touring a big EU nation like England or Ireland, wow suddenly theyre a high profile team again and they get the stars back.
Great right? No. Having those players come back was probably detrimental to the teams performance. My idea of having Sotutu and Bower encouraged (directly or indirectly) to play for Fiji is merely as a means to an end, to give the Flying Fijians the profile to both enrich and more accurately reflect the international game. You didn't really state what you dislike but it's easy to guess, and yes, this idea does utilize that aspect which does devalue the game in other cases, so I wanted to see if this picture would change that in this example (just and idea I was throwing out their, like I also said in my post, I don't actually think Sotutu or any of these players are going anywhere, even Ioane might still be hopeful of being slected).
The idea again, raise the visibility on the PNC so that can stand as a valued tournament on it's own and not require basic funded by WR to continue, but not enough to involve all the best players (even Japan treated it as a chance to play it's amatuers). Do this by hosting the PI island pool in places like Melbourne every other year, include some very high profile and influential team in it like an All Black team, and yes, by the nations getting together and creating ways to increase it's popularity by say asking individuals like Sotutu and Bower to strength it's marketability, with the hopeful follow on affect that stars like Botia and Radradra always want to (and can) represent their country. With Fiji as the example, but do it with Samoa and Tonga as well. They will need NZ and Aus (Japan) assistance to make a reality imo.
I don't believe this cheapens the game, I believe it makes it more valued as you're giving players the choice of who they chose to play for rather than basing it off money. Sotutu would never have forgone his paycheck to play for Fiji instead of NZ at the beginning, so you should viewed his current choice as 'cheap'
Go to commentsYou've lost me. Are you saying theyre already playing as part of the competition?
Or is this you saying you're against some sort of manipulation of the game? You want it to happen organically when the game/clubs are ready?
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