Danny Care to snub French interest and stay with Harlequins despite England retirement

Danny Care is set for a 19th season at Harlequins, with the veteran scrum-half close to finalising a contract extension.

Care, who turned 37 in January, is understood to have resisted interest from French clubs despite having announced his retirement from England duty last week.

Bayonne and Perpignan were reported by Mail Sport as potential suitors for Care, with sources confirming that he was offered a deal in the region of £400,000 per year to follow former England colleagues such as Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell, Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam across the Channel.

However, despite bringing the curtain down on his 101-Test international career after this year’s Six Nations, in which he appeared in all five matches to reach a century of caps, Care looks to be staying at the Twickenham Stoop for another campaign.

Senior figures at Harlequins, whom Care joined from Leeds in 2006 and has now represented in 372 senior matches, suggested that an announcement would arrive in due course.

Billy Millard, the Harlequins director of rugby labelled Care as a “freak athlete” last week and declared himself optimistic about a deal being struck.

“We don’t want to put too much pressure on him,” Millard told BBC Radio London. “He’s got a big family and he’s got decisions to make but we’re very hopeful that we can get there shortly.

“What I love about DC is he’s got those old-school rugby values that are pretty cool to pass down to Marcus [Smith] and the younger guys.

“They love him and why wouldn’t they? He’s a joy to be around. He’s been a massive part of this club since well before I got here so it’s been a pleasure to spend some time with him.”

Harlequins brought in Will Porter, previously of Wasps and Bristol Bears, last year with a view to grooming a long-term successor for Care, but it would appear as though they will hold onto the elder statesman for another season.

Last week it was also revealed that Care is poised to play alongside Jonathan Joseph, Zach Mercer and Ben Youngs for the Barbarians against Fiji on June 22 at Twickenham.

“You don’t get too many firsts at this stage of your career, but this has been a long time coming,” Care said.

“It’s nearly happened a few times over the last few years, but now the stars have aligned and I cannot wait to finally wear that famous black and white shirt. To do it at Twickenham as well is going to be so, so special for me.”