Care’s injury was hilarious and his fault, says England coach
ENGLAND coach Andy Farrell insists he can see the funny side after firstchoice scrum-half Danny Care was ruled out of today’s first Test in New Zealand with a freak injury.
Care hurt his shoulder in a training ground fall caused when he mistimed a grubber kick and instead stubbed his toe on the ground. The Harlequins man’s absence further weakens an England side missing several key players for the first of three clashes with the All Blacks.
“It was Danny’s own fault actually – it was a rubbish kick,” said assistant coach Farrell. “It was absolutely hilarious. I burst out laughing but then realised it wasn’t too funny. I’ve got it on tape. I showed it to all the lads the next day – it was hilarious. It wasn’t quite as good two days later when he wasn’t playing in the Test match. Anyway, we’ll get over it.”
Leicester’s Ben Youngs is set to deputise for Care, who could return for next week’s second Test, with Northampton’s Lee Dickson named on the bench at Eden Park despite only arriving Down Under earlier this week. Head coach Stuart Lancaster’s options have been severely limited by injuries and the overlap between end-of-season club finals and the start of the tour.