Somewhere back in 2003, in a pre-season friendly against Exeter Chiefs, a 16-year-old made his debut on the wing for Leeds Tykes.

His name? Danny Care – a man who, some 22 years and 515 senior games later, has finally announced his retirement from the game at the venerable age of 38.

To sum Care up in pure numbers doesn’t do his flair and ambition with ball-in-hand justice. But, the scrum half will finish off with some 395 First XV appearances for his beloved club, coupled with a mammoth 101 caps for England at Test level, in an international career that spanned some 16 seasons and finished only last year, 2024.

In his time, Care scored 15 tries for England and landed two rare drop goals, and at domestic level has grabbed 117 tries and four drop goals in his phenomenal Quins career.

Young Tyke

Care was born in Leeds and started playing rugby union at age six with his local club, West Park Bramhope RUFC. A hugely talented footballer in the round ball variant, at age 11, he joined the Academy at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, which required him to stop club rugby union, though he continued playing at Prince Henry’s Grammar School, Otley.

After being released from the Sheffield Wednesday academy, Care focused on rugby union. By the end of the season, he was selected for Yorkshire Schools’ U15s and joined the Leeds Tykes academy a year or so later at the beginning of the 2003/04 season, playing predominantly as fly-half, helping Prince Henry’s win the Daily Mail U18s Vase at Twickenham, scoring 13 points in an 18-11 victory against St Columba’s College, St Albans.

After two seasons at Leeds, where Care represented England in the Youth Sevens, he signed a three-year contract with Harlequins in the summer of 2006. In July 2008, Care was selected in the England Elite Player Squad for the upcoming season, launching an England career that lasted some 16 years, under four head coaches, featuring in two World Cups.

‘I’ll always be a Quin’ – England and Harlequins icon Danny Care to retire from rugby

England calling

He helped England achieve the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2016, in addition to winning titles in 2011 and 2017 and also featured at two Rugby World Cups, earning selection in 2015 and helping England reach the semi-finals in France in 2023. He retired in 2024 as one of only six men’s Test players to achieve 100 appearances for England, finishing with 101 caps after 15 years of playing at international level, saying:

“To play for England once was a dream come true. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get the opportunity to do it over 100 times.

“The past 12 months in this England team have been arguably my favourite, making memories that my family and I will cherish and remember forever.

“I have been thinking, ‘I can’t keep doing this forever’. I’ve got a young family at home that I’ve spent a lot of time away from, and I’m missing out on a lot of stuff and in the past nine months, we’ve been away for about six of them.”

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Care added: “I want to thank all the England fans from the bottom of my heart who have supported me and the team unconditionally throughout the years, all over the world.

“It means the world and nothing will ever beat the feeling of walking out to all of you at Twickenham.”

Quins first

Care’s announcement today means that Harlequins will be without the man who steered them to two Premiership wins in 2012 and 2021, winning the EPCR Challenge Cup in 2011 to add to his England silverware.

Care at his best epitomised everything that was great about the SW London club – daring, impudent and vibrant, but most of all, entertaining, a man ready to metaphorically punch the big bullies on the nose and back his pace to get away from them. His long-standing partnership with Nick Evans, some 167 matches, was one of intuitive skill and brilliant rugby opportunism, all based around a fundamental belief that however many tries Quins conceded, they had the ability to score one more than their opponents.

Former England back-rower Nick Easter, a man known to all at the Stoop as ‘The Guvnor’ and Care’s number eight for some 10 seasons for both club and country, commented: “As the links between forwards and backs, your relationship between eight and nine is key in all rugby. Danny and I often had a different view of the game, but we both knew when the moments were right to run it and when to carry it up. He knew when to challenge the forwards and we knew when to challenge him. That was a really healthy relationship, one of honesty and equality, and one that we were able to take into the Test arena on 20 or so occasions.

“He was a delight to play with – direct, intelligent and demanding – and, in all modesty, that spine of me, Danny, Nick Evans and Mike Brown was the fundamental basis of many seasons of toil and graft at the Club – some that resulted in glory, some that didn’t. Above all, we were mates; mates in battle, mates in the aftermatch, something that Quins weren’t shy of enjoying.

“Danny’s longevity is testimony to how fit he kept himself, not to mention his love of the physio’s bench, something that I guess gets far more frequent as we get older as players. My biggest emotion is that all of the great times I enjoyed at Harlequins were shared with DC, on pitch, off pitch and wherever the game took us.”

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98-times capped Sale Sharks and England fly-half George Ford, a man who partnered with Care for England on 22 occasions, added: “Danny is one of the most exciting and naturally gifted players I’ve ever played with.

“He is always full of energy, always having an attacking mindset and wanting to go out there and be positive on the field. That approach was unbelievable to play with and always inspired you to do similar in terms of mindset.

“The key for me is that he’s also one of the best teammates off the field; someone who had time for everybody. DC is a joy to be around, always having a laugh. He’s one of those players that, when you’re at the end of your career, you’ll look back on with a big smile and think not only what a great player he was, but what a great guy he was as well, and it’s so important to retain that integrity in the modern game.

“515 games, I think, is an amazing achievement and what he’s achieved for Harlequins, for England and for the wider game is fantastic. I can’t think of a more significant player in terms of domestic Premiership Rugby, and I often think that DC’s attacking ambition set the bar for others to follow.”

For Care now, he leaves the playing field with a burgeoning career ahead of him as a media pundit, where his cheeky smile and razor-sharp analysis have already enchanted viewers of both domestic and international coverage.

Harlequins CEO Laurie Dalrymple also confirmed to Planet Rugby that Care will remain on the books at the Stoop in an ambassadorial and mentoring role to the wider Quins community, as the club looks to retain the knowledge and the impact of their most capped player.

Care will leave the Stoop for the last time this Sunday, ironically where he started, against Exeter Chiefs, and wearing the famous quarters of the side that’s he’s done proud for some 19 years. For those attending, raise the roof for arguably the mightiest of all Quins – he deserves to get a memorable send off as few players, if any, have had such a memorable career for this great club.

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