Leicester’s gang of four helping ease Tom’s pain

LEICESTER captain Tom Youngs admits he still carries the scars of last month’s humiliating 43-0 home defeat by Glasgow but has revealed how a quartet of Tigers legends have enabled him fight through the dark times.

Youngs, who assumed the captaincy at the start of the season, has endured a torrid campaign which culminated in the sacking of rugby director Richard Cockerill and the horrific Champions Cup drubbing that followed.

The recovery is now on – last week’s impressive 34-9 hammering of Gloucester proved that – but Youngs, 30, told TRP: “That Glasgow result affected me hugely; it dented my heart and even now I feel it.

“I’ve never wanted a game to end early before but that one I did. It was so demoralising and embarrassing.

“As captain, and being the Leicester man I am, I do take the brunt of it quite heavily and it upsets me a fair bit. It probably knocks me a little bit too much and hangs with me at times, but that’s me, it’s in my makeup.”

Youngs, right, explained how four men with well in excess of 1,000 Leicester appearances between them came to his rescue. He added: “One thing you can say about Leicester is it’s a family club and I’ve spoken to Ian ‘Dosser’ Smith, Ben Kay, Peter Wheeler and Peter Tom – people who know the club and have shown big respect by helping out. “It’s been really tough for me, I can’t pretend otherwise, but these guys understand what you’re going through. “People assume Leicester’s always been at the top but when you speak to guys like them, they’ve been through rough times before and know how to deal with them. “The message I’ve had is that things do get better and rather than wallowing in self-pity, it’s all about being resilient.” Youngs is convinced Leicester can still mount a Premiership title charge. He said: “We’re within touching distance of the top four so it’s not all broke. “We’re getting senior players back from injury and trying to put things right – and I want to be at the forefront of that.”