Lancaster eyes Care to replace injured Youngs
ENGLAND coach Stuart Lancaster is confident about the ability of Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care to replace Ben Youngs after the latter’s shoulder injury ruled him out of the remainder of the tour of South Africa.
Care was dropped for the Six Nations because of several off-field incidents but has since been recalled and, after impressing in last week’s mid-week match against Southern Barbarians, Lancaster believes him to be a capable deputy.
“It won’t be any disruption,” said Lancaster, who also has scrum-half brothers Lee and Karl Dickson to choose between to play at nine for Saturday’s third Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth.
“Both Danny and Lee know the game plans. I didn’t need any get-out clause to make any selection decisions – it gives us an opportunity to look at Lee and Danny.”
The loss of Youngs is a substantial setback for England. The scrum-half impressed throughout Saturday’s 36-27 loss in Durban and scored two tries, though he was ultimately unable to prevent a series defeat.
South Africa’s Willem Alberts and Pat Lambie are also doubts, but will both be assessed this week.