Care ‘devastated’ after second drink incident costs him England cap

The Yorkshireman was arrested for drink-driving on New Year’s Eve having already been fined by his club Harlequins following an arrest for being drunk and disorderly in the early hours of December 10.

Leeds-born Care - who missed the World Cup due to a foot injury - was a certainty for the Six Nations and tipped by many to be England’s first-choice number nine.

However, interim head coach Stuart Lancaster, who played such an integral part in the player’s development during his time in Leeds’ Academy, has taken strong disciplinary action and will not pick him for either the senior or Saxons squads.

It is a sure sign of Lancaster following through with his promise of improving the national side’s image after a series of unsavoury off-field incidents during the dire World Cup in New Zealand left their reputation in tatters.

Care, 25, said: “I do accept that I made a very bad decision on the evening in question and need to take the punishment that the courts hand out.

“I have decided not to contest the charge as I want to bring this to a close swiftly rather than have it hanging over my head for a year or more.

“I would stress though that at no time did I think I had drunk enough to be over the legal limit. However I should not have got into the car and have to accept the consequences of that action.”

Care continued: “I am devastated not to be selected for the Elite Player Squad for the Six Nations as I felt I had been playing near the top of my game with Quins.

“However I wish the team, and the other number nines who come in to play, the best of luck as playing for your country is the highest honour in the game and I will miss it hugely.

“It’s now up to me to get my head down, keep playing well and learn from my actions.

“Quins and Stuart have been very supportive and I totally accept their sanctions.

“I do understand the need for England players to be role models in the game and have tried to live up to that at all times, but have made a couple of stupid decisions in the past weeks.

“I can only hope for the chance in the future to prove those decisions were the exception not the rule. I am devastated because my actions have let so many people down.”

Although Care - a former Prince Henry’s Grammar School pupil in Otley - was fined a “substantial” amount by Harlequins after the first offence, England took no further disciplinary action on that occasion.

But after the latest incident following Quins’ 11-9 victory over Exeter, Lancaster told him his behaviour is not what is expected of an England player and that he will not be included when he names his squads next Wednesday.

Care is due to appear in court on drink-driving charges on 16 January.