Harlequins scrum half Danny Care may have endured a disappointing autumn international series, but it has not stopped him paying tribute to the person that set him on his path to the top.

Care, dropped for England wins over Samoa and Australia last month after defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, has had his fair share of ups and downs since switching to the Stoop from Leeds as a 19-year-old.

Before moving south, he had already played for England age groups and helped his school Prince Henry Grammar School to the Yorkshire U18s Cup before helping himself to a 13 point haul in an 18–11 Daily Mail U18 Vase triumph over St Columba's College at Twickenham.

 

The 27-year-old, who could do little as Bath’s forwards dominated Quins in last Friday’s 25-6 defeat at the Recreation Ground, met up with his former school coach Peter Latham last month as part of England sponsor QBE’s campaign to unearthed 2015 new coaches by the start of next year’s World Cup.

And while Latham insisted his star scrum half was destined to play for his country, Care admitted it was his coach’s influence that set him on his way.

“You want coaches who inspire you and want you to have fun,” said Care.

“The key thing for me was that it was fun going into training and Pete knew that he had a load of lads who wanted to have fun and enjoy it.

“For me, you have to enjoy what you’re doing to want to get better at it.

“If I could be as inspiring, infectious and fun as Pete as a coach then I would be a happy man.”

Latham added: “From 14 to 15 years old he looked an incredibly promising prospect that was going to light up the game.

“I was just taken aback by Danny’s vibrancy, vision and competitiveness from scrum half and as the years moved on from his late teens, he just went upwards and onwards.”

The QBE Coaching Club is set to contribute a 25 per cent increase in the number of Level Two coaches across England, coaching over 50,000 players beyond 2015.

“It’s such a great initiative as we want to find people like Pete,” added Care, who was reunited with Latham at Twickenham last month.

“People who inspire young kids to get out there and throw a rugby ball around are invaluable to the game.

“This has really hit home about those people who have supported my success from such a young age.

“My family, Pete, other coaches; I owe them all an awful lot and it’s put into perspective how much they’ve given me in my career.”