'I can't give it up yet' - Care to stay with Quins
Danny Care holds the record for most appearances for Harlequins with 386 games
- Published
Former England scrum-half Danny Care says he will remain with Harlequins next season for his 20th campaign with the club.
Care, 38, has made a club record 386 appearances for the London outfit, including 11 so far this season.
"I will be at Harlequins next season, I ain't leaving - I love it too much, I can't give it up yet," he told the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
"Hopefully a few Quins fans will be happy with that.
"That game [the 'Big Game' 34-34 Premiership draw against Leicester in December] probably reminded me again just how lucky I am, fortunate, to still play this game we love and to still play for the club that I love.
"I'm not going to give it up while I enjoy it."
One more year at Harlequins, says Danny Care
Care first joined Harlequins in 2006 and has twice won the Premiership title with the club, in 2012 and 2021, and the European Challenge Cup in 2011 - as well as scoring more than 100 tries.
The number nine retired from England duty in March 2024, after winning 101 caps for his country - one of only six men to achieve a century of appearances for England.
Care defies expection and age - analysis
BBC Sport rugby union news reporter Mike Henson:
It was widely expected Care would follow his former team-mate and friend Joe Marler into the sunset, hanging up his boots at the end of this season.
Those expectations were partly set by Care himself.
"I'm still a Harlequins player at the time of writing, although whether I make it to the end of another season remains to be seen," he wrote in the autobiography released in the autumn.
"The pain in my knee and shoulder isn't getting any easier and there are times when I'd rather be anywhere else than on a training ground. Rugby is no sport for old men."
But, with the help of modern conditioning and recovery methods, players have been able to play longer.
Care's former Harlequins team-mate Mike Brown, who will turn 40 this year, is still turning out for Leicester, while former Premiership stalwart Jimmy Gopperth is playing in the French second tier aged 41.
Care's decision to stay on may affect succession planning at Quins.
In addition to Will Porter, they also have highly rated 18-year-old Lucas Friday as a scrum-half option. However, they were reported to have lined up Sale's Raffi Quirke, external as an end-of-season replacement for Care.