JEREMY GUSCOTT
OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK
DANNY Care has always attracted attention as an attacking scrumhalf who can shred defences by creating opportunities for others, or taking them himself. It is why he has become the heartbeat of the Harlequins side which is on a mission to retain its Premiership title as we get to this season's play-off stage.
Danny was a driving force when Harlequins won their first Premiership title in 2012, and also when they repeated it with their famous run from the back to become champions again last season. We all want to win as much as we can in the game in terms of silverware, and if Quins were to retain their crown at the end of this campaign it would be a great top-and-tail to Care's career at The Stoop.
It's been a long journey for the club to get to where they are now. Although they had great teams and influential players way back in the amateur era, and became known as the aristocrats of English rugby – and have one of the great club jerseys – in the professional era they had not won all that much. They usually played a good brand of attacking rugby, but were inconsistent – and even when they did become more of a force in the Premiership with rebuild under Dean Richards, they were derailed by Bloodgate.
At the start of this season, I believed that Harlequins would struggle to repeat last season's success. This was mainly because I thought that their game strategy – which I applaud – would be worked out by their rivals. The way they won the title defied the odds, but, even though they leaked tries, they always backed themselves to score more than the opposition. So far this season they have not been found out because, when it matters, they have managed to repeat the trick.
However, they have lost eight matches in this league campaign, so it is not as if they are invincible. But, while that may not sound like a champion team, what Quins have learned is that it is all about timing. You do not have to be the best team at this stage of the season, you just have to be the team that gets to the final and wins it.
There have been plenty of examples of clubs who have timed their run better than the opposition in previous Premiership campaigns, and last season Harlequins did it in spectacular style.
The starting point appeared to be the split between what Paul Gustard wanted as head coach, and what the players wanted. When Gustard left The Stoop so soon after John Kingston, who had offered continuity as part of the Conor O'Shea coaching team, there was always a chance that the level of disruption would stop Harlequins being a competitive force.
What happened instead was that senior players such as Care – who is now 35, and had lived through all those ups and downs – responded to the challenge, and so did their assistant coaches, Nick Evans, Adam Jones, and Jerry Flannery.
“I believed that Harlequins would struggle to repeat their success of last season”
You cannot help but like Care's style at scrum-half. He's quick, sharp, and is always looking for opportunities to put other players into space – and if he sees a gap he's still fast enough, and has the footwork, to make the most of it.
He is also fit enough to get from breakdown the breakdown to sustain the high tempo game Quins thrive off.
Care's been better at it than most, which is why he has won 84 England caps – 38 as the starting scrum-half – and has made tons of appearances for his club. So far he has played 334 matches for Quins, which is the second-highest in the club's history.
He vied strongly with Ben Youngs for the England starting shirt until he was dropped by Eddie Jones in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup, and, although he still has the ambition to play at international level, it looks unlikely now that he's a veteran.
Instead, he's channelled all that desire into making Quins successful. I thought I could do something similar for Bath after retiring at international level, but I soon very quietly retired from the club game too, because the ambition and desire had gone. I realised that I'd played to play the game at the highest level, and didn't have the motivation to carry on – but players like Care have found that motivation.
The scrum-half is the hub of the team, and is able to set the tempo as long as the forwards provide them with the platform, especially at the breakdown. Care is a lively allaction 9, and dangerous around the fringes, but one area that has surprised me is that his box-kicking is only average – especially, as he'd been an academy footballer at Sheffield Wednesday.
That's a drawback, and you have to offer so much more at scrum-half if that is the case – and Danny Care offered that, both for England and Harlequins, despite the fierce competition. When he wasn't selected at all at international level it must have been disappointing – but he's replaced that by driving Quins for-ward for the last two seasons, so good luck to him.
Care has also forged a good understanding with Andre Esterhuizen, who has just been voted of RPA Player of the Season. The big South African inside centre has transformed Quins because he always runs straight, and a player with that size and heft will have that effect in midfield.
Esterhuizen is very much in the style of English inside centres of the past, and more recently of Manu Tuilagi, and is very good at what he does. Quins know that they have found a beauty of a 12 because he carries over the gain-line week after week – but Esterhuizen doesn't just truck it up the middle. Sometimes you will also find him out on the wing for Quins, finishing-off attacks that he has often had a hand in starting.
There are no guarantees for Quins with Saracens and Leicester also chasing the Premiership title, but Care and Esterhuizen are a littleand-large combination that will take some stopping.
