Leeds Tykes
The following season saw further progress at Leeds Tykes where he made his first XV debut on the wing as a second-half replacement in a pre-season friendly against Exeter Chiefs. His continued involvement with the England Under-19 squad resulted in selection for Team England in the rugby sevens at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo, Australia, his first experience of sevens. England won the silver medal, losing narrowly 26–24 to the hosts, Australia, in the Final. Care scored 7 tries during the tournament making him the top try scorer in the competition.
Having been an unused replacement for Tykes in home and away European Challenge Cup games against Grenoble, Care finally made his competitive debut for the club at fly-half away to VRAC in Valladolid, Spain in the European Challenge Shield just a week after returning from Australia. His involvement lasted just 23 minutes before he suffered a broken leg, by which time he had scored a try and kicked 4 conversions.
Despite Care's injury Tykes came forward with the offer of his first professional contract which he signed in December 2004.
Whilst the injury prevented Care taking part in any of England's Under-19 Six Nations games that season he was selected for the squad which travelled to South Africa for the IRB Under-19 World Championship. Unfortunately a knee injury sustained whilst recovering from the broken leg forced him to return home to undergo surgery without playing any part in the Tournament.
After a summer spent getting fit and completing his A-level studies at Prince Henry's, Care was able to join Tykes on a full-time basis with the opportunity to train alongside All Black scrum-half legend Justin Marshall who signed for the club during the close season. A pre-season injury to Tykes' No.2 scrum-half Mark McMillan gave Care an early opportunity to understudy Marshall and he made his Guinness Premiership debut away at Saracens in September 2005 as a replacement for Marshall late in the game. Over the coming weeks further opportunities arose for first team experience including starting appearances in the Powergen Cup against Sale (which brought his first senior try) and against Newcastle (which brought his first man-of-the-match award).
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