Youngs pulls out of Lions tour over family illness
Ben Youngs, the Leicester and England scrum-half, has pulled out of the British and Irish Lions squad to tour New Zealand, as his sister-in-law has terminal cancer.
Ben, 27, is brother to Tom, 30, who is also a Leicester player. “We are a very close family and, as I am sure everyone can respect, time is now precious together,” Ben Youngs said.
“The most important thing for me at this difficult time is to be able to offer as much support as I can to Tom and his family in the remaining time we all have together.”
Tom’s wife Tiffany was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and he pulled out of England’s tour of New Zealand that year to care for her.
The brothers played in Leicester’s 28-23 win over Worcester yesterday, with Tom scoring the Tigers’ try.
Scotland and Gloucester scrum-half Greg Laidlaw has been called up to replace Youngs, who will continue to play, along with Tom, for Leicester this season. Coach Warren Gatland said: “We fully understand and respect Ben’s decision to stay at home. Family comes first and I know from having toured with Tom and Ben in 2013 how close they are.”
Youngs was one of three scrumhalves named in the 41-man party but his loss has been partially offset by the return to fitness of Conor Murray, who played for Munster yesterday and is first-choice scrum-half.
Meanwhile, Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, called the Lions’ decision to hold a squad get-together in London tomorrow “unbelievable” as it is just five days before his side face Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup final at BT Murrayfield.
In the final day of the regular Aviva Premiership season, Wasps’ victory over Saracens gave them top spot and a home semi-final against Leicester. In the other semi-final, Saracens travel to Exeter.
It went right down to the wire but Wasps emerged as history men in the most dramatic fashion last night, leaving it late to clinch the bonus-point victory against defending champions Saracens that ensures Dai Young’s side finished top of the Premiership regular season for the first time.
Late tries by Elliot Daly and Thomas Young, who became only the third Wasps forward along with Simon Shaw and Lawrence Dallaglio to score a hattrick of tries for the club, to ensure Dai Young’s side finished ahead of Exeter thanks to a superior points difference.
Having led the table since Christmas Eve, it would have been a gut-wrenching experience to have surrendered the position on the last round but Wasps will now look forward to a home semifinal against neighbours Leicester Tigers here at the Ricoh Arena on May 20.
A 15-minute delay to the kick-off because of congestion outside the stadium ensured Wasps had the advantage of knowing what was required to finish in top place, with Exeter securing a bonus-point win against Gloucester.
Saracens may have opted to rest several of their star players ahead of next Saturday’s Champions Cup final against Clermont Auvergne in Edinburgh but Mark McCall’s side, as they always do, provided resilient opposition, and for a brief spell during the second half threatened to steal the lead after Ben Spencer had darted over for his second try. At that point Wasps hopes of finishing in top spot appeared to be in danger as they struggled to build on earlier tries by Young (two) and Christian Wade, but Daly’s race to the line after Wasps gathered a loose ball brought the crowd to their feet.
Appropriately it was left to Young, son of the club’s director of rugby, to complete the celebrations by dashing over for his third score from the back of a driving maul. The back-row forward is certain to be included in the Wales squad to be announced on Tuesday.
“It is massive for us as a club,” said Young Jnr. “We spoke about the last part of the season having led for most of the season and it is massive to get a home semi-final. Our home form is something that we pride ourselves on. It has been a tough week and we didn’t turn up at Quins last week. We knew that as a squad and we have been hard on ourselves all week. But the training we had was probably the best we have had all year.”
After the wobble against Harlequins, it was important Wasps finished their campaign with a flourish and Dai Young believes his players will have gained a psychological edge by going into the play-offs having finished top of the table, a feat not even the legendary sides of Dallaglio and Co managed when they won the title four times in six years.
“We are really pleased to be sitting at the top of the league,” said Young Snr. “I know you don’t get anything for that but it is still a major achievement and we have to be happy with that. It gives us a home draw and a little bit of advantage but you still have to play to the best of your ability and Leicester will probably feel they will come here with nothing to lose and are going to be a dangerous animal because they have improved over the last couple of months.”
As for Saracens, McCall insisted he had no regrets about the decision to rest so many of his big guns, as the defeat left them in third place. “Whether people agree or disagree, we think we have done the right thing,” McCall said.
Dai Young’s side had lit up the wide channels with some scintillating running by Kurtley Beale, Willie Le Roux and Wade in a breathtaking start to the contest. Yet for all the entertaining rugby, Wasps could not translate it into points, with Saracens resolutely holding their line in the face of wave after wave of attacks.
It was left to Jimmy Gopperth to open the scoring with a penalty and yet the sense that Wasps had failed to land
a significant blow despite their early dominance was underscored when Saracens scored almost immediately after the restart. It was a simple, devastatingly direct attack that exploited some sloppy defending, with Schalk Brits driving around Danny Cipriani before Spencer raced clear from the base of the breakdown as if it was a game of Sevens. Alex Lozowski converted and Wasps had to start again.
And they did so in impressive fashion, with Young scoring his first try by gathering the perfectly-placed chip by Cipriani after another high tempo attack. A monstrous penalty by Marcello Bosch from 54 metres, moments after Lozowski had missed with a droppedgoal attempt, snatched the lead back for Saracens after their best period of the half, only for a moment of madness by Sean Maitland to gift the momentum back to Wasps. The Scotland wing was shown a yellow card for obstructing Wade as the wing chased his own chip ahead; Gopperth restored the lead with his second penalty before Wasps pressed hard to exploit their numerical advantage. This time Le Roux was the creator for Young, with the Wasps flanker finishing with a flourish to extend their lead to six points at the interval. Saracens at least were able to limit the damage before Maitland returned and Gopperth’s inconsistency with his placekicking continued as he missed a relatively straightforward penalty after two misplaced conversion attempts. Yet when Wade pounced to equal the Premiership record of 17 tries in a season after a line-out steal by Joe Launchbury and rebound from a speculative chip by Le Roux, it seemed poised for Wasps to push on for the bonus point.
Saracens, however, responded with a power play of their own, with Spencer burrowing over for a try after 18 phases of play. As it was, it was in vain.
Wasps could even afford for Dan Robson to squander a golden opportunity when he failed to gather the ball at the line after a kick by Beale, with Daly and Thomas crossing to complete the historic victory.