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On a family holiday to Rhodes, Danny Care was lying on a sun lounger when the text message arrived from Eddie Jones asking him to call as soon as possible. He knew what was coming.

Phone conversations with Jones do not involve any exchange of pleasantries or chats about the weather. If the England head coach rings, it is generally to impart bad news. Despite being half tempted to ignore the message, Care called back. The conversation lasted less than a minute and confirmed his fears. He had been left out of the World Cup training squad.

For the third consecutive tournament, England’s second most capped scrum-half faced the prospect of having his nose pressed up against the glass of the sport’s showpiece event. His burning ambition of winning a World Cup, which had fuelled his 11-year international career, was seemingly at an end.

“When you see the name, you know what is going to happen,” Care told Telegraph Sport. “I am big enough and it has happened to me enough times that I can accept it. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like it always does when you are dropped. Particularly for a World Cup. That’s my last chance to play in one.