Youngs inspired by local rivalry as Leicester look to make play-offs

Tigers captain shrugs off tumultuous week for visit of Northampton, writes

Leicester captain Tom Youngs is explaining the context to this afternoon’s crucial trip to Northampton – the triumph and turmoil of the past few days – before he stops himself. “The main thing is that it is a derby,” the hooker says. “That means a lot more than a lot of other stuff.”

That “other stuff ” includes winning the Anglo-Welsh Cup against Exeter last Sunday – the club’s first trophy in four years – the sacking of head coach Aaron Mauger and the prospect of failing to qualify for the play-offs for the first time in the club’s history.

Still, there is no doubting Youngs’s sincerity. These are the fixtures that matter above all else to him. “They’re all cliches, but they’re true: it is the game of the year; it is the one you look forward to most.”

Youngs’s outlook was forged in the heat of these battles. He recalls his first taste of a derby in 2010, a 23-10 defeat, followed by the LV Cup final victory in 2012 that was marred by Leicester hooker Rob Hawkins having an arm broken by Calum Clark. His features twist in disgust at the very idea of the East Midlands rivals being merged in the manner of the failed proposal to unite Stade Français and Racing 92 to form a Paris super club. “Crazy,” Youngs said. “One hundred per cent, I understand why the players went on strike. It’s strange, I don’t know why they’d even contemplate it.”

Youngs does not deny it has been a tumultuous week for the club, nor does he downplay the bearing the fixture will have on the league standings. Leicester are fifth, a point off the play-offs, with Northampton a further three points back in sixth. Defeat could define their seasons.

Both teams bring back their England contingents: Courtney Lawes and Youngs’s long-term rival Dylan Hartley for Northampton; Youngs’s brother Ben and Dan Cole for Leicester, who are still adapting to their latest coaching reshuffle after Richard Cockerill’s sacking in January.

Mauger will keep the reins for the derby before Matt O’Connor, who held the same role between 2010 and 2013, replaces him. Clearly his departure elicited strong feelings within the squad. Telusa Veainu, the wing, was among those to tweet his incredulity at the decision.

Social media is not really Youngs’s bag – “I can’t stand the stuff ” – and he adopts a more