DANNY Care is the scrum-half who can win the World Cup for England, according to Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea.

O'Shea has backed Care to harness the hurt of being dropped for England's 26-17 victory over Australia and wrestle back the national team's number nine shirt in time for next year's World Cup.

Care suffered a wretched afternoon in England's 31-28 South Africa defeat, throwing a pass for an intercept try from Jan Serfontein and was promptly omitted from the final autumn Test against the Wallabies.

Harlequins face a pivotal European Champions Cup double-header against Leinster in the next fortnight, where O'Shea has tipped 27-year-old Care to vent frustrations and prove his true class.

"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."

England salvaged some pride from an otherwise dismal autumn with victory over Australia at Twickenham on Saturday thanks wholly to forward dominance.

Ben Morgan's two tries were the direct result of England's vastly superior scrum, easing pressure on Lancaster after defeats to South Africa and New Zealand.

Ben Youngs and Richard Wigglesworth filled the starting and replacement scrum-half slots, with Care overlooked and released for club duty.

England still struggled for midfield fluency despite George Ford and Billy Twelvetrees pairing up at 10 and 12 with Owen Farrell dropped to the bench.

O'Shea believes Lancaster now boasts a healthy amount of selection options for next year's Six Nations, but still threw his weight behind Care's cause.

"No one has a divine right for anything, to win matches or even win selection," said former Ireland full-back 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."