Leicester scrum-half desperate for England shirt after injury-hit 6N
BEN Youngs is a man on a mission to right the wrongs of England’s sub-standard Six Nations campaign by clinching an historic first tour win in South Africa.
Youngs was a frustrated bystander as England lost their last three Six Nations matches to finish a woeful fifth. However, after making an express recovery from knee ligament damage he suffered in the second match against Italy, the 28-year-old pivot is keen to make amends. The 74-cap No.9 told The
Rugby Paper: “We’re still a very good side so I’ve no doubt the team that goes to South Africa will be ready to create history. It didn’t quite happen for us during the Six Nations – and it’s not much fun watching because you want to be out there helping the team – but I know how the boys train and the preparation that went in.
“The lessons of the Six Nations will be learnt and we’ll be a lot better for it in terms of making sure that we iron out any issues around the breakdown and things like that.
“Sometimes in sport you don’t achieve what you want, but it’s what you do next that’s important and I’m completely confident this team will get back to where it needs to be.”
With South Africa set to recall a number of key European-based players, Youngs added: “I’m surprised they haven’t done it before because they’ve got a huge amount of South Africans playing in the Premiership and Top 14. They could probably pick a good XV from players in England alone and Rassie Erasmus will want his strongest side. “That’s great though because the challenge is there and you want to meet it head-on and go for the wins. “We know what we’re going to get in South Africa; they’ll be hard, fast and in your face, but we’ll be better for what we’ve experienced in the Six Nations and there’ll be a lot of guys in our squad keen to prove themselves on this stage.”
Having recovered from his three-month lay-off to feature in Leicester’s last three league matches, after previously fearing his season might be over, Youngs will face competition from Ben Spencer (Saracens), left, and Dan Robson (Wasps) for the No.9 shirt, with Quins’ Danny Care, being rested.
Youngs added: “I came off the pitch against Italy and felt my ACL pop out and pop back in again so in my mind I was looking at a nine-month lay-off. Fortunately the scans were more positive and while it was an ACL, it was only a small tear. I was lucky to dodge a bullet there and I manage to rehab well and came back in April feeling good.
“I’m glad to have got some games under my belt and I’d love to play a big part in this tour now. I’m delighted to be back in the squad and I’ll try to add some leadership, get my teeth stuck into it and be part of building towards the World Cup.”
While Youngs’ return is well timed, he was unable to prevent Leicester failing to qualify for the Premiership play-offs for the first time since 2004.
He added: “It’s been a rollercoaster and we lost too many games at home. At some point you’re not going to make the play-offs but with the squad that’s in place and guys coming in, we’ve just got to cop it, wear it and come back a better side.”