"I could've been a Lion - but getting injured whilst playing on a sled cost me"
Danny Care never made a British and Irish Lions tour despite more than a decade with England - and admits an injury whilst sledding in the snow is the "one I look back on" after missing out on selection in 2009.
The Harlequins scrum-half won more than 100 caps for his country across a career that spanned more than 20 years. He made his debut for England in 2008 against New Zealand following some stellar club form. His upward trajectory continued and he was picked to play in the Six Nations opener a year later.
That year's Six Nations had added spice given the Lions were heading to take on South Africa that summer. Care was in pole position to put himself in the shop window but picked up an injury whilst enjoying himself in the snow after training.
The Harlequins legend was sledding, but what was supposed to be a fun activity later saw him pick up an injury, resulting in him pulling out of the squad.
England had to seek a new face at scrum-half and turned to Harry Ellis, who had been impressing in the younger grades. His performances in that Six Nations earned him a Lions spot with Care wondering what might've been.
The 38-year-old, speaking at a SailGP event ahead of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth, told Mirror Sport: "I'd say 2009 I had an opportunity but I got injured just before the Six Nations opener sledding down a hill after training and I got injured, did my ankle. So they called Harry Ellis up from the Saxons, Harry then played really well for England and went on that Lions tour.
That's the one I look back on and go I definitely shouldn't have been sledging, but you never know, it is all hypothetical. But normally the starting nine for England has a chance and Harry took his chance. The rest is history."
Even in the tours that followed Care was often talked about as an option. In 2013 he was in the England fold but Ben Youngs got the nod. Four years later and he was part of the Eddie Jones' side that had dominated for two years, but was again overlooked.
Then in 2021, when the Lions were again playing in South Africa, there was mounting outside noise to see Care get the nod. By this point his international career was on pause, but he excelled for Harlequins. They came from nowhere to win the Premiership and Care concedes you do start to believe the noise.
He confessed: "When people campaign for players, I remember in 2021 when people were starting to say I was going to go on Tour. I wasn't playing for England, but I was playing for Harlequins. Maybe you start wanting to believe the hype but then you whittle it down and go I haven't played for England for three years."
Care is regarded as one of the modern greats who never became a Lion. Few players amass over 100 caps without making a tour and the scrum-half openly admits that missing out on the experience means it simply doesn't resonate like it does with those who did it.
"When you haven't done it, you don't know what it's like. It isn't a regret because I don't pick the team," he said. "You'd love to have done it because you hear the stories and see it and it looks amazing, but because I've never felt it I'm happy for all my mates, I watch the games but yeah I wouldn't say I'm an avid Lions fans. I grew up a football fan so I can't tell you I watched all the Living with the Lions DVDs."
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