England star Danny Care has revealed he refused to watch the 2019 Rugby World Cup final after being snubbed by Eddie Jones. The experienced scrum-half was left out of the squad and it really hit home at the climax of the tournament in Japan.
South Africa beat England 32-12 in the final four years ago. Care was one of the notable absentees but had managed to watch the previous rounds in the tournament.
The Harlequins star decided against doing so for the final as it really hit home that he was not a part of the travelling party. He has revealed he instead took his kids trampolining while the match was being played.
Care told BBC’s Rugby Union Daily podcast: “I was just at home mate. I always remember for the final I took the kids to AirHop in Guildford, one of the trampoline places because I couldn’t watch it.”
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Asked whether he didn’t watch because he was nervous or because he wished he was there, Care replied: “Probably the latter. When it got to the final, my wife said ‘What do you want to do?’ I said ‘I don’t think I can watch it’.
“It was probably the only time it probably hit me of what I was missing out on, the chance to play for your country in a World Cup final, which was tough to take.”
Care is back in the England fold at the age of 36, with 94 caps behind him. He has a chance this year to reach and play in a World Cup final.
England first have the unenviable task of overcoming the champions from four years ago in Saturday’s semi-final. Steve Borthwick’s side are huge underdogs but Care insists there is always a chance at this stage of the tournament.
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He said: “We’re not there yet, we’re in a semi against the best team in the world but were going to give it our all to try and get to the final. We’re sat here as one of four, one team has to win it.
“Why not us? It’s been quite methodical, our thinking, but it’s worked. We’re only focusing on this weekend and we’ve said it the whole time – you can’t look any further than this game, especially against the world champions.
“We know we’re going to have to play the best game, probably of our lives, definitely the best game of this tournament, if we’re going to get through to the final.
“We’ve got so much respect for them as a team, the way they play the game is incredible, some of their players are unbelievable, and they’ve got the pedigree and they know how to win World Cups. It’s a hell of a test for this team, but the boys are buzzing to be here and get stuck in.”
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