Few players have heard more Calcutta Cup bagpipes over the years than Danny Care. His first Six Nations encounter with Scotland was in 2009 and the meeting on Saturday will be his 99th Test appearance for England. If any of the scrum‑half’s younger colleagues want first‑hand advice about Murrayfield and how to survive it, they need look no further.
It is among the reasons why the 37‑year‑old is still in the national squad; Steve Borthwick wanted a few seasoned individuals to set the tone for future generations. The boy Danny is now an elder statesman picked for his experience of high-pressure environments, particularly after Ben Youngs’s Test retirement and the untimely knee injury sustained last week by Northampton’s Alex Mitchell.
