Care looks for positives from Kiwi nightmare
Monday, 18 Aug 2008 13:29
Danny Care says he 'never doubted his innocence' in New Zealand tour scandal
England scrum half Danny Care has spoken about the infamous incident at a New Zealand hotel earlier this year which saw himself and three other players being accused of sexual impropriety by an 18-year-old woman.
Speaking to
inthenews.co.uk, Care, 21, expressed his disappointment at the scandal, saying he is "glad it's all over".
Care, David Strettle, Mike Brown and Topsy Ojo were named as the England players accused of "sexually violating" the teenager during a disappointing tour to New Zealand which saw a severely weakened England team comprehensively beaten by the All Blacks.
Care and Strettle have since been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), while Ojo and Brown were fined for staying out late after England's 37-10 defeat in Aukland.
Talking to journalists at an elite squad training week, Care appeared a little over-awed by the intense media attention he has received in recent months.
However, the number nine firmly maintained his innocence in relation to the alleged event and was adamant that nothing happened on the night in question.
"From the outset I knew I'd done nothing wrong," Care said.
He claimed that the England set-up had decided early on to take a silent line towards the accusations in public and instead worked on proving the accusations false.
"As a group we decided to say nothing," the scrum half said, confirming Martin Johnson's comments last week that everything that needed to be said took place behind closed doors with the minimal of fuss and disruption to the players.
Despite his declaration of innocence though, Care did admit he understood why there was such a furore in the British press when the story first broke.
"There was a story there," the number nine said, claiming he had deliberately chosen not to read the reports but admitted friends and family had relayed extracts to him.
Shrugging the whole episode off, Care said he was putting it all down as "life experience" and said it was something he "could learn from" in the future.
He added that he had had come away from the New Zealand "very disappointed" but vowed to "move forward and take the positives".
Looking to the future, he said his main objectives were to retain his position in the England team and appreciated the return of Harry Ellis meant there was even more pressure on him to perform.
"I want to play as many times as I can for England," he concluded. "I want that number nine shirt".
England are due to play the Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in November.