'He gave me my greatest moment in an England shirt… I do owe a lot to him'

Veteran halfback Danny Care has revealed what message he sent to outgoing England coach Eddie Jones after it was confirmed the rugby guru had been axed by the RFU.

It was confirmed earlier this week by the Welsh Rugby Union that Warren Gatland would be replacing Wayne Pivac as Wales’ head coach, and England made a major coaching announcement of their own shortly after which added to the drama.

After seven years in charge of the England team, which included three Six Nations titles and a Rugby World Cup final, supercoach Jones had been released from his duties.

While the decision was somewhat expected following a disastrous Autumn Nations Series campaign, it was still a major call to make with the World Cup just nine months away.

It wasn’t that long ago that Jones’ England team were the best in the world.

But that’s just a memory now.

Fast forward a few years and England are fifth in the world, but their recent form is especially worrying for a nation with genuine World Cup ambitions and dreams.

England only won one of their four tests during November, which was a 39 point demolition of Japan. While an incredible nine minute blitz saw them salvage a stunning draw against New Zealand, a loss to South Africa the week after seemingly sealed Jones’ fate.

But in the wake of this major decision, some applause and praise needs to follow one of the greatest coaches to have ever graced our game.

Speaking BBC’s Rugby Union Daily, former England scrum-half Danny Care thanked Jones for giving him his “greatest moment in an England shirt.”

“Everyone’s gonna have a different relationship with Eddie. My relationship with Eddie, although people think it probably isn’t good, I think we’re actually in quite a good spot,” Care said.

“I dropped him a text today just to say thanks for everything you did for me, I wish him all the best in the future… hopefully we can share a bottle of wine at some point.

“He gave me my greatest moment in an England shirt, he gave me that start in the Grand Slam game (against Scotland in 2016).

“I do owe a lot to him, obviously I didn’t play for a few years under him but he also gave me my best moment in an England shirt.

“For me he’ll always be thought of highly in my thoughts as one of my greatest coaches I’ve ever worked with.”

While Care has been in and out of the national squad, he was included in the England team to tour Down Under to Australia earlier this year.

England had never won a series in Australia against the Wallabies before Jones took over, but he rewrote history in his first year in-charge – and did so again in his last.

Reflecting on what that tour was like, Care said nobody thought that Jones wouldn’t be at the World Cup following the successful trip to the sports mad nation.

“Everything was still talking about the World Cup, and this team that is on this path to hopefully winning the World Cup, Obviously you never thought that the head coach wouldn’t be there to see it through after being there for seven years,” he added.

“We were pretty successful in Australia. Won the series, could’ve won that series 3-nil on another day.

“Obviously England haven’t played as well as we should’ve the last few years but I think everyone’s still probably in a little bit of shock that they’ve decided to pull the trigger.”