Dynamic Care takes a patient view from the bench

Yet in matches of memorable moments, a seat in the stand away from the action and the plaudits can feel a lonely place.

Danny Care has had to get used to the view from the bench – it has been his berth for the last seven England internationals.

As Ben Youngs snipes through gain-lines and combines with Toby Flood, Chis Ashton and Ben Foden to accelerate the Red Rose from mediocrity to genuine World Cup hopefuls, England’s second choice scrum-half, Care, has had to wait patiently.

He has, when afforded a second-half cameo, shown he has lost none of the dynamism that first prompted Martin Johnson to call him up in the summer of 2008 following a successful first year with Harlequins.

Even last Saturday, the Leeds-born No 9 was praised by the team manager for maintaining the momentum when introduced against Italy and for capping that sustained tempo with a third try of his international career.

But of his 27 Tests, 13 have come from the bench.

His last start was in Perth in the first Test against Australia last June.

Seven days later, Youngs came in, England beat the Wallabies and they have not looked back since.

No matter how often people rightly say international rugby is now a 22-man game, there is no substitute for actually starting and being a team’s attacking fulcrum, which Care yearns to be.

“All I can keep doing is coming off the bench and making an impact,” said the former Leeds and Otley player, who could have chosen a career in football had he not been released by Sheffield Wednesday, aged 15, for being too small.

“I did that on Saturday. It’s a team effort and you want everybody to do as well as they can, and, to be honest, right now it’s just great to be involved in a winning team.

“It was a good squad effort on Saturday. Everyone was itching to get on to play their part.

“I managed to get a bit of ball and get over for a try which is always nice.

“Everyone’s dying to play at the moment and it’s a team you want to be involved in.

“Being on that pitch, playing in that team and in front of a full, cheering crowd – it doesn’t get much better than that.”

The extent of how much international rugby is a squad game will be put to the test in 10 days against France, the defending champions and only other team in this year’s Six Nations with a 100 per cent unbeaten record.

Care is again expected to take up office just in front of Johnson at a packed Twickenham, with the manager unlikely to want to change a starting XV that is buzzing with confidence.

But having come off the bench in the corresponding fixture two years ago – to replace the now-retired Harry Ellis – Care knows France will require a performance of maximum concentration and tempo from the entire squad if they are to continue their challenge for a grand slam.

Care, 24, said: “France will be a massive game, and definitely our biggest game so far and hopefully a victory can set us up for a grand slam.

“They’re a threat all over the park, they’ve got mercurial backs with the likes of Mathieu Bastareaud and players of that ilk.

“It’s a massive forward pack as well, same as we faced against Italy, so it’s going to be really physical up front.

“Hopefully, it’s a similar game to two years ago when we came out flying. Hopefully, we can get an early score and get on top early on.”

Victory over France would only hasten the juggernaut of expectation that surrounds a buoyant England, but Care insists there remains much work still to be done for a team that is getting comfortable with the favourites’ tag.

“You can tell we’re relishing the expectation,” said Care, who if he continues in this vein of form for club and country, should be on the plane to New Zealand later this year for the World Cup.

“Sitting on the bench on Saturday, you could hear the reaction in the crowd when we chose to kick a penalty, there were a few murmurs of discontent. The expectation is on us to go out there and score tries.

“We took our tries well and Ashy (Ashton) did his best to score as many as he could!

“We’ve been criticised in the past for not taking our tries and finishing off, but we showed on Saturday that we can finish and having said that, there was still a couple left out there.

“Also we probably slipped off a couple of tackles and it was disappointing to let them in for a try with the driving maul.

“We’ll look at that this week and other areas to improve on the week after, because it’s going to be an even bigger game against France and with the title getting closer they only get bigger from now on.

“We’ve got three more massive games to come and we can’t afford any let up in our approach and execution.

“The crowd have been fantastic, particularly for the Italy game, and if they can keep getting behind us it will give us that lift to want to score more tries, put on a show and get a win.”

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