Youngs’ remarkable journey to 100 caps
With scrum-half on the brink of his 100th England cap, those who know him reveal the drive which made him a centurion
Former England and Leicester full-back Dusty Hare remembers clearly what struck him the first time he laid eyes on a 14-year-old Ben Youngs playing for Eastern Counties against Hertfordshire at St Albans.
“Ben always had an air of time about him, unruffled, never rushing or panicking,” says Hare, who helped oversee Youngs’s development as part of the Tigers’ academy. “Ben was in the centre that day, moved infield to fly-half at some point in his young career before settling on his best position at scrumhalf. Even as a youngster, he didn’t get flustered. Ben came from farming stock, like myself, and I played with his dad [another scrum-half ] Nick. You can see the family traits in the way Ben has gone about his game, taking his sport seriously, but never himself.”
It was no surprise given his heritage that Youngs had a ball in his hands from a young age, grandfather Gerry having erected a set of ad-hoc rugby posts from irrigation poles at the family farm at Aylsham in Norfolk.
Brother Tom is two years older but was rarely able to nail his sibling. “There used to be full-on contact sessions at the farm, but Tom could never get hold of Ben because he was so nippy and jinky,” said Simon Worralls, master in charge of rugby at their school, Gresham’s, and married to Nick’s sister, Lucy. “There was always a touch of genius about Ben. Rugby is in the family’s blood.”
Ben followed Tom into the Leicester ranks and made an immediate impression as a 17-year-old when becoming the club’s youngest player to feature in the Premiership, later appearing in that season’s final against Gloucester.
“Ben had great pace and could see gaps that no one else could see,” recalls Richard Cockerill, longstanding former Leicester coach and director of rugby. “No one knew who he was back then so he’d come on as a replacement and within minutes he’d invariably be dummying an opponent and be off 60 metres up the field scoring a try.
“Ben was a natural whereas Tom [originally also a centre who converted to hooker] had to graft to make his mark. Ben was gifted, but had to acquire the right work ethic. The brothers are opposites in that regard. Ben has knuckled down, though, and developed his all-round game, his kicking in particular. He quickly realised that professional rugby wasn’t just about the sparkly bits, running free.
“Ben also managed to conquer his fat gene. Eddie [Jones] was right on the money when he chucked him a bag of sweets when he first became England coach and told Ben he liked snacking too much and to lose weight. Ben took it on board.
“He doesn’t overthink things, he says what’s on his mind, sometimes to his disadvantage, but gets on with life. Ben is nicely uncomplicated.”
There will be no dissenters as to the acclaim that will come Youngs’s way when he wins his 100th cap today. Youngs, 31, has been popular throughout his career, admired for his technical skills, his ability to endure and to enhance his game, despite setbacks. Above all, there is the freshness and genuineness of his personality.
There is a sharp side to him, as Cockerill notes, but there is a profound decency too, at no time better reflected than when he withdrew from the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand following g a foreboding g cancer prognosis for Tom’s wife, Tiffany, a life-ending projection that, mercifully, did not come to pass.
“That encapsulated Ben, giving up on every player’s dream with the Lions to stand strong for his family,” says Toby Flood, one-time Leicester and England colleague, and Newcastle fly-half.
“There is a bit of a split personality about Ben. He is ultra-competitive yet so humble and laissez-faire away from rugby, a lovely guy to hang out with.
“I was his fly-half when he got his first England start [a 21-20 win over the Wallabies in Sydney in 2010] and the pace he showed for his try was amazing. Defences were terrified of Ben’s speed. He had to develop his all-round game, which he has done brilliantly. If you’d sat him down that night in Sydney and told him he would get to 100 caps for England, he’d have bitten your hand off. Ben has been a consummate professional and deserves the plaudits.”
The fact that Youngs will be only the second Englishman, behind Jason Leonard, to reach a century of Test caps speaks not just of his ability, but also of an inner drive to keep working to see off rivals to the starting shirt. Jones believes that there i s no reason why Youngs “should not reach 150 caps”.
“Ben’s durability is remarkable, a matter partly of luck, but also of attitude and professionalism,” Cockerill says. “You can have nothing but admiration for him.”