Danny Care
Daniel Stuart Care is a former English professional rugby union player who played as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins and the England national team.
Early life
Care was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He first played rugby union at age 6, with his local club in Leeds, West Park Bramhope RUFC. At age 11 he was invited to join the Academy at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club which meant giving up club rugby union although he continued playing the game at Prince Henry's Grammar School, Otley.He helped Prince Henry's win the Under-13 Yorkshire Cup in 2000 but he missed almost all of the next season recovering from a broken leg sustained in a school game.
The following season he was released from Sheffield Wednesday academy, and could concentrate on rugby union. By the end of the season he had been selected for Yorkshire Schools' Under-15's. The next season he was also selected for Yorkshire and the North of England before making his debut for England Schools' Under-16s against Wales at Neath in April 2003. Care had resumed club rugby union with Otley and the season also brought another Yorkshire Cup success at Under-16's with Prince Henry's.
Care joined the Leeds Tykes academy at the start of the 2003–04 season. Leeds won the National Under-19 Colts Cup that season and Care was named as Tykes' Players' Young Player of the Year. At school level Care spent the season playing at fly-half and helped Prince Henry's to win the Daily Mail Under-18 Vase at Twickenham, he scored 13 points in an 18–11 win against St Columba's College, St Albans. He was selected for the England Clubs Under-18's squad for the Four Nations Tournament held in Belfast where he played against Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Care played 20 times for the England youth setup scoring 25 points between 2003 and 2007. He also played for England sevens in the 2004 youth commonwealth games in Bendigo Australia.
Club career
Leeds Tykes
In 2003, Care made his first XV for Leeds Tykes on the wing as a second-half replacement in a pre-season friendly against Exeter Chiefs. He was selected for Team England in the rugby sevens at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo, Australia, his first experience of sevens. England won the silver medal, losing 26–24 to the hosts, Australia, in the Final. Care was top try scorer in the competition with 7 tries.He was an unused replacement for Leeds in home and away European Challenge Cup games against Grenoble, Care made his competitive debut at fly-half away to Valladolid RAC, in Spain, in the European Challenge Shield a week after returning from Australia. His involvement lasted 23 minutes before he suffered a broken leg, by which time he had scored a try and kicked 4 conversions.
Care signed his first professional contract with Leeds in December 2004.
After completing his A-level studies at Prince Henry's, Care joined Leeds on a full-time basis alongside All Black scrum-half legend Justin Marshall who signed for the club during the close season. A pre-season injury to Leeds' No.2 scrum-half Mark McMillan gave Care an early opportunity to understudy Marshall and he made his Guinness Premiership debut away at Saracens in September 2005 as a replacement for Marshall late in the game. Over the coming weeks further opportunities arose for first team experience including starting appearances in the Powergen Cup against Sale and against Newcastle.
Harlequins
2006–2008
In the summer of 2006, Care signed a 3-year contract with Harlequins. At Harlequins Care initially found himself understudying Samoan international Steve So'oialo at scrum-half but after disappointing results early in the season the club recruited the experienced Andy Gomarsall, a member of England's World Cup winning squad in 2003. This restricted his game time, he started in the EDF Energy Cup and European Challenge Cup games before making his first Guinness Premiership start for Harlequins in a 9–3 home win against Bath in January 2007.The start of the 2007–08 season presented Care with a chance of an extended run as starting scrum-half at Harlequins as Andy Gomarsall and Steve So'oialo were away at the Rugby World Cup in France with England and Samoa respectively. He was selected for the London Double Header, the first fixture of the season, against London Irish at Twickenham. Care was prominent as Harlequins beat London Irish 35–27, he was injured in the match and sidelined for 5 weeks. By the time he had recovered, Gomarsall and So'oialo had returned to club action and game time was limited in the Premiership. He started several games in the Heineken Cup and EDF Energy Cup. At the end of the domestic season, Care was shortlisted for the Guinness Premiership Young Player of the Year Award – he finished 3rd behind Ben Foden and the winner, Danny Cipriani.
2008–2010
Care had a successful season at club level in 2008–09 with Harlequins who finished 2nd in the Guinness Premiership and reached the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, at that point the club's best season in the professional era. At the end of the domestic season Care was shortlisted for the PRA Young Player of the Year Award which was voted for by his fellow professionals – he finished 3rd in the voting behind Tom Croft and the winner, Ben Foden.Care agreed a 2-year contract extension with Harlequins, committing himself to the club until June 2011. In August 2010 Care agreed a 2-year contract extension with Harlequins, committing himself to the club until June 2013.
2010–2012
Care had a successful season at club level with Harlequins as the club won the Amlin Challenge Cup, the 2nd tier European club rugby competition. Quins came top of their Pool which consisted of Bayonne, Connacht and I Cavalieri Prato, and beat Wasps at home in the quarter-final and Munster away in the semi-final, with Care scoring in both games. The final was at the Cardiff City Stadium against Stade Francais. With Harlequins losing 18–12 with only 5 minutes to play Care produced a line break and chip kick to enable Gonzalo Camacho to score a try which was converted to give Harlequins a win, 19–18. The win enabled Harlequins to qualify for the Heineken Cup, for the 2011–12 season as the club had failed to qualify via the Aviva Premiership. Care scored 7 tries in all competitions during the season and was named in the ESPN Dream Team for 2010–11.Care was arrested on 10 December 2011 on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly. He was not charged but was subsequently fined by Harlequins. He was also arrested and charged with drink driving on 1 January 2012. He was again disciplined by Harlequins and was told that he would not be considered for selection for the England Six Nations squad. On 16 January 2012 Care attended Southampton Magistrates' Court where he pleaded guilty to a charge of drink driving, was banned from driving for 16 months and fined £3,100. Care was arrested outside the Queens Hotel in the early hours of 4 March 2012 in Leeds. He was taken to a station by officers and questioned about the offence before being released. Care was given a caution for being drunk and disorderly.
On 23 March 2012, Care was accused of sexual assault earlier in the month. He was bailed pending further enquiries. On 9 July 2012 Care was advised that the police investigation had been completed. The Crown Prosecution Service had decided that there was no case to answer.
Despite his off-field issues Care helped Harlequins to their best ever season as they became English champions for the first time in the club's history. Harlequins finished top of the Aviva Premiership at the end of the regular season and qualified for a home semi-final in the play-offs against Northampton Saints. Care missed the semi-final due to a shoulder injury but Harlequins beat Northampton 25–23 to quality for the final against Leicester Tigers. Care had recovered from injury in time to play in the play-off final at Twickenham as Harlequins beat Leicester, 30–23. Stephen Jones of the Sunday Times said "Danny Care at scrum-half had what may well have been the game of his career. He was marvellously sharp and his decision-making was immaculate". Care made 16 appearances during the Premiership season and contributed 4 tries and 1 drop goal.
In August 2012, Care agreed a 3-year contract extension with Harlequins, committing himself to the club until June 2016.
2012–2025
At club level, Care helped Harlequins to finish 3rd in the Aviva Premiership and qualify for the end of season play-offs. In the semi-final they lost 33–16 away to Leicester to end the defence of their title. In the penultimate game of the regular season Care made his 100th Premiership appearances, he scored 2 tries as Harlequins won 42–26 against Worcester Warriors. Harlequins won all of their group games in the Heineken Cup, making them top seeds from the pool stages, but lost a home quarter-final against Munster 18–12. Care was one of six players shortlisted for the Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Year Award; the winner was Tom Youngs. He was also shortlisted for the Rugby Players' Association Player of the Year Award, the winner was Christian Wade.Care won his second Premiership title and started as Harlequins won the game 40–38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever on 26 June 2021.
In April 2024, Care was part of the Harlequins side that beat Glasgow Warriors in Champions Cup, defeating them 28–24 at home to win the club's first ever knockout game in the competition.
He then played in their semi final defeat in Toulose. Despite reported interest from France, including Top 14 sides, Perpignan and Bayonne, he signed a new one-year deal to stay with Harlequins ahead of the 2024–25 season.
In May 2025, after completing his 19th season at Harlequins he announced his retirement from professional rugby. He made his final appearance wearing the number nine shirt, despite appearing off the bench, with first choice scrum half Will Porter wearing the 21 jersey, in a 24–22 victory against Exeter Chiefs.