'I don't know if the coaches are talking about me at all' - Danny Care refuses to give up on Lions dream

Scrum-half Danny Care believes he can make his British and Irish Lions dream come true by defying the odds and winning a place in the tour party to South Africa despite failing to appear in the Six Nations championship.

Care was ignored by England head coach Eddie Jones despite producing outstanding form which culminated in the Premiership Player of the Month award for March. He heads into Harlequins next Premiership match with Worcester believing he can convince Lions coach Warren Gatland he has the skills to warrant inclusion in the 36 strong tour party that will named next month.

At 34-years-old and with 84 England caps to his name, Care has been around the game long enough to know the odds are stacked against him, however, he will continue to use his Harlequins form to press his case. Care said: “It has been really nice to hear people throw my name into contention for the Lions. It is something I have not been part of before and I know from speaking to very close friends of mine how special it is so to be talked about in that mix is amazing, but I don’t know if the coaches are talking about me at all.

“All my focus is on playing well for Quins and I know I didn’t play in the Six Nations so it is going to be very tough to force a hand there, but I am desperate to play as well as I can for Quins and if someone likes what they see in the Lions then it would be a dream come true.

“It’s nice to pick up an individual award. When I received it I said I couldn’t remember winning one before and the only person who would know if I had was my Dad. Lo and behold, I spoke to my Dad and he’d dug an article out from 2009! So it was 12 years ago that I won my last Player of the Month award. Last month Marcus (Smith) won it and he has been brilliant and he probably could have won it again this month. Fortunately for me, I get my name on the award but it’s definitely a club effort. “