Youngs now a key but undervalued piece of the England jigsaw

Leicester scrum-half’s kicking ability gives him an indispensable role in Jones’ tactical plans

Is Ben Youngs underappreciated? On the surface, it seems a curious question to ask. He is, after all, poised to win his 80th England cap against Australia on Saturday. All being well, he will sit in exalted company between Lawrence Dallaglio (85) and Jonny Wilkinson (91) by the start of the World Cup.

Yet Youngs’s talents are rarely trumpeted, certainly not in comparison to England’s bona fide poster boys, Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje, or even those on the fringe of the squad such as Danny Cipriani. If there is a tub close to hand, you will not find him thumping it.

What is beyond doubt is his central importance to England. Having started 23 of 34 full internationals under Eddie Jones to date, coming off the bench in four more, he is clearly one of this regime’s most influential figures. It can be easy to forget that, as well as the fact that Youngs does not turn 30 until next September.

Besides, if the Leicester scrumhalf feels undervalued, he hides it well. “I want to make my family proud, which I know I do, but I want the blessing of my teammates and my coach,” Youngs says. “I feel I get that. The outside can have whatever view they want. As long as I’m fulfilling my role as best I can, that’s the only thing that really matters.”

The decision to drop Danny Care reflects the demands placed on scrum-halves in Test rugby, especially in tight arm-wrestles when space is at a premium. Jones’s sentiments did not sugar the pill for Care: “We weren’t happy with some aspects, so he can go away and work on them.”

Chief among these demands is kicking, which is where Youngs comes into his own – certainly in comparison to Care, for whom the boot is an erratic weapon.

According to Opta statistics, England have hit 38 box-kicks from the base of rucks and mauls so far this month, roughly one for every 75 seconds they have been in possession. Youngs, responsible for 26 of those box-kicks, contends that England have been reacting to

‘As long as I’m fulfilling my role as best I can, that’s the only thing that really matters’

situations in front of them. But he also acknowledges a vital feature of Jones’s tactical framework.

“Some of that is circumstance,” he says. “We knew with the big, physical pack that South Africa brought that tactically we would have to kick smart. We also had 10 days’ preparation for it, so we probably had to kick slightly more – we’d normally want to keep the ball in play and run.

“Against New Zealand, the weather took a turn for the worse. You can have all the game plans you want, but if there’s horizontal rain, some of that can go out the window. What we are trying to do is to get the ball back in a better position. We’re trying to create unstructured situations and we’ve done well on that front.”

Eight of Youngs’s box-kicks, almost a third, have seen England recover possession in some way – either with a chaser gathering the ball or because an opponent has conceded a turnover. For instance, Sam Underhill smashed New Zealand full-back Damian Mckenzie into touch after pursuing one of Youngs’s kicks. That led to the irresistible driving maul that put England 15-0 ahead.

However, there is a balance to be struck and accuracy is paramount. Over-hit box-kicks encourage counter-attacks. On six other occasions against South Africa and the All Blacks, England’s chasers were not able to impart pressure from Youngs’s box-kicks.

Wigglesworth is widely regarded as the premier box-kicker in the country. Indeed, one of his two against Japan brought about Joe Cokanasiga’s try. The hulking wing soared to contest Wigglesworth’s high ball and Jamie George scurried away with the ricochet. Wigglesworth followed up and sprinted down the left touchline before finding Cokanasiga on the inside.

Care has hit nine box-kicks over his three appearances this autumn and only one has allowed the rival team to mount a counter.

More damaging to Care’s prospects would have been an intercepted pass and in the first half a solo snipe that saw him isolated before conceding a breakdown penalty.

On the other hand, Youngs’s distribution in the build-up to Chris Ashton’s opening score against New Zealand demonstrated other areas of his game are in good order. Also, he has beaten the Wallabies 10 times in Test matches. Most Australians know his value, and Jones is no exception.