Danny Care and Jamie George are known as ‘Ant and Dec’ to team-mates as England look to complete job against Ireland
Two jokers are saving their best performances for final Six Nations clash in Dublin on Saturday
DANNY CARE has become one of England’s greatest entertainers — on and off the pitch.
The super-sub who celebrated his 11th try against Scotland with a giant leap over the line has formed a comedy double-act with hooker Jamie George.
They are known as ‘Ant and Dec’ to team-mates thanks to their stand-up shows during relentless Test weeks holed up at England’s £3million training base.
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But like the whole squad these two jokers are saving their best performances for Dublin tomorrow.
Care said: “We call ourselves Ant and Dec. Obviously it’s a big week, but it’s a long time in camp and you need a couple of clowns just to keep the squad sane.
“The lads needed some entertainment during the week. Pennyhill can get a bit boring, so we tried to make it fun and one night a week we will do a quiz show and a few little bits.”
With 70 caps under his belt, Harlequins captain Care has also made a name for himself as one of boss Eddie Jones' impact men.
And although the he has started on just three of his 17 appearances under Jones, he is not complaining about his role as Ben Youngs’ back-up in this Grand Slam-chasing side.
Care, 30, added: “Because of the emphasis Eddie places on the bench you do feel as important as the starters.
“Maybe in other teams or back at the club you wouldn’t feel the same. But here there’s a massive emphasis on it. The way this team’s going I want to be a part of it.
“I’m not going to be kicking off that I’m not playing. I understand Youngsy is a great player and has been playing well for the last couple of years. I’ll bide my time and try to do my bit when I can.
“I’ll do whatever the team needs, that’s the ethos we have at the moment. Obviously I’d love to start. But I feel fantastic and think as a team it is definitely the best I have ever been a part of.”
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Care came off the bench last weekend to great effect, scoring two tries — including England’s seventh — as they hammered the Scots 61-21.
He celebrated with a swallow dive and daft grin and admitted: “I did enjoy that one. All week we stayed pretty quiet and said ‘let our rugby do the talking’.
“I enjoyed it, you never know which game will be your last so to score the final try after 20-odd phases — the jump was a bit higher than I thought I could do!”
Care admits this England team has covered all the bases. But he added: “We know how good Ireland are. You saw them blow New Zealand off the park and it is a very tough place to play.
“They don’t like losing at home. It’s a big thing for them to spoil our party.”
England have got frighteningly stronger as the Six Nations has gone on and welcome back Billy Vunipola and Anthony Watson as they chase a world record 19th successive victory.
Ireland are paying the price for a bruising campaign and star scrum-half Conor Murray is out with a bicep injury.
Care was part of the Red Rose side that bottled a Slam in Dublin in 2011, but feels last year’s historic win in Paris showed they have wised up.
He added: “Last year was a great year — to win the Grand Slam.
“Eddie said straight away ‘We’ve got to do it again’. Now we are one game away from doing it.”
Harlequins forwards coach Graham Rowntree and Wales skills coach Neil Jenkins have been named on Warren Gatland’s Lions coaching staff for this summer’s tour of New Zealand.
They will link up with Steve Borthwick, Andy Farrell and Rob Howley and Gatland said: “They understand what it will take to win in New Zealand.”