Care, fittingly, set for 100th cap off the bench

LONDON : Danny Care will become England's sixth, and probably least likely, rugby centurion when he wins his 100th cap against Ireland on Saturday 16 years after his debut and two since being recalled after his international career appeared to be over.

Care, 37, is among the replacements at Twickenham behind recalled starter Alex Mitchell and is guaranteed a thunderous welcome when he joins the fray, whatever the state of the game.

It is an honour that would have appeared extremely unlikely when Care was discarded by Eddie Jones in 2018 and spent the next four years in the wilderness.

However, he earned a surprise recall in 2022 for the summer tour of Australia, only for his international career to look finished once more when Jones hauled him off after 35 minutes of the third test and didn't pick him again.

Steve Borthwick then replaced Jones as England coach and although he overlooked Care initially, he called him up to his World Cup squad, where he forced his way past Ben Youngs to act as back up to Mitchell, himself a late call-up after injury to Jack van Poortvliet. It was a role he knew well, after becoming something of a specialist "finisher" behind Youngs as he has gone on to win 56 of his 99 caps off the bench.

It was also particularly satisfying for Care, who had a previously painful relationship with the World Cup. He was selected for the 2011 tournament but could not go due to injury. In 2015 he was involved only in the final pool game against Uruguay, with England already eliminated from their own tournament, while he was on the outside looking in at the 2019 tournament.

He made a memorable contribution in 2023 though, coming off the bench to score the decisive late try, his 15th for England, and then making a