ROUSE & SHINE Youngs hopes Twickers roar will do the trick
BEN YOUNGS says a first full house at Twickenham for 20 months will transform England after their Six Nations flop.
Eddie Jones names his team today to face Tonga, promising to refresh the line-up and brand of rugby in the wake of England’s worst-ever championship campaign.
A major difference from the spring will be the matchday atmosphere, with an 82,000 sell-out crowd replacing the empty arenas in which the team bombed against Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Youngs, England’s senior player with 109 caps, believes the return of the fans will have a huge effect.
“Rugby is a game built on emotion,” he said. “The forwards go toe-to-toe and do things that normal people don’t do, trying to bash the hell out of each other.
“To do that you need emotion and when you’ve got 80,000 screaming that’s a pretty good way to get adrenaline and arousal levels going.” Youngs says forwards like Ellis Genge, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoje “feed” off big match atmospheres – fuelling them to “fly” into things.
“It’s incredibly different when you have nothing other than the S&C staff and the finishers on the bench shouting,” he added. “Having our fans back is a huge advantage.”
Jones refuses to assume that the return of punters will automatically take England back to their 2019 best.
“Fans give you courage at times, they give you stamina and excitement at times and sometimes a team needs that little bit extra,” he said.
“I certainly think as we became an older team the influence of the crowd became greater and we probably missed not having them more than anyone.
“But we have got a different challenge now. They are going to have to get used to the expectation that the fans bring of wanting us to play well.
“We need to make sure they are so glad to be back at Twickenham.”