Danny Care lost his England scrum-half shirt to Ben Youngs in November © Getty Images

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Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea has backed Danny Care to reclaim the England scrum-half berth ahead of the World Cup.

Care was dropped by Stuart Lancaster following England's loss to South Africa in the second of four November Tests with Ben Youngs now first-choice ahead of the Six Nations. But despite this setback, O'Shea has backed Care to showcase his array of skills over the next two weekends of European rugby.

"Stuart Lancaster has got great options for England now, and that's what any coach wants," said O'Shea. "That's the position any coach wants to be in.

"But I know if I was to pick somebody to win a World Cup it would be Danny Care. You gain your international recognition by playing for your club and playing well, and that's why he's got 50 caps - and I hazard a guess he'll have 50 more by the end of his career."

At present Youngs and Richard Wigglesworth are ahead of Care in the scrum-half pecking order and while O'Shea believes Lancaster now boasts a healthy amount of selection options for next year's Six Nations, he still throws his weight behind Care's cause.

"No one has a divine right for anything, to win matches or even win selection," said O'Shea. "Nothing is handed to you, you don't get success or win trophies because you pull on a jersey and take the field.

"Everyone has to be reminded of that every once in a while. So I'm sure the reaction from Danny, which has always been the case, and the case with our group: when you're written off, you come back and you prove people wrong.

"And sometimes that's the added motivation that gets you on the edge. Should that be the case? You'd love it to be self-driven all the time, but sometimes you need that external motivation and that can be driven by taking up a challenge and proving people wrong. And if that's what gets the juices flowing then if that gets you going that's great."