Ben Youngs


Benjamin Ryder Youngs is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers and England. In 2019 he became England's most capped scrum half.

Background

Benjamin Youngs was born 5 September 1989 in Aylsham, England. His older brother Tom Youngs is also a rugby player, for Leicester Tigers as a hooker. His father Nick Youngs played scrum-half for both Leicester and England.

Club career

Youngs made his Leicester Tigers first team début on 11 February 2007 in a friendly match against Argentina at Welford Road, the match marked Graham Rowntree's final Leicester appearance. On 24 April 2007 at the age of 17 years and 231 days he became Leicester's youngest ever player used in a league match when he came off the bench against Bristol. Later that season, he played in the final of the 2006–07 Guinness Premiership.
Youngs played 10 games for Leicester in the 2007-08 season, principally whilst Harry Ellis was injured. Despite starting only 2 games, but featuring in 17, Youngs finished third in the 2008–09 Guinness Premiership Discovery of the Season award and won the club's player's young player of the year award.
Youngs was instrumental in Leicester's 22–17 defeat of the Springboks in a tour match on 6 November 2009 kicking 17 points. He was able to establish himself as first choice in 2009-10 season starting 23 games. In February 2010, Youngs signed a new contract. His teammates voted him Leicester Tigers Player of the Season for 2009/10. In a season littered with awards, he also picked up the Landrover Discovery of the Season award. He crowned off the season by playing in the 2009-10 Guinness Premiership final victory over Saracens, scoring a try in the process.
Youngs has also played in losing Premiership finals in 2011 and 2012, as well as starting in the 2013 final where Leicester defeated Northampton to seal their 10th English championship.
On 8 April 2017 in a game against Bath at Twickenham Youngs made his 200th appearance for Leicester. Following Leicester's home game with Newcastle Youngs was presented with an engraved silver picture frame in recognition of the feat.

International career

England
Youngs has played for England U-16, U-18 and in March 2008 was a member of the England under-20 team that won the grand slam. Later that month, Youngs made his debut for the England Sevens team at the Hong Kong sevens. Youngs played in the final of both the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship. and 2009 IRB Junior World Championship. He was selected for the revised England Saxons Squad on 13 January 2010, and upgraded to the revised Senior Squad as injury cover for Harry Ellis on 25 January 2010. Later that month, he made his debut for the England Saxons, against Ireland A.
He made his senior England debut as a substitute on the wing for the injured Ugo Monye in the Calcutta Cup match against on 13 March 2010, and was an unused replacement in the match against. He continued as part of the senior squad on their tour of Australia, and played in both Test matches.
Youngs made his first international start in England's 21 – 20 win over in Sydney, on 19 June 2010. He played an important role in improving the England gameplan in the game, and scored a solo try in the first half. On 13 November 2010, Youngs was awarded man of the match award for his outstanding performance against Australia. Youngs continued to be a steadfast member of the England squad, including call ups for the 2011, 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups.
After Eddie Jones replaced Stuart Lancaster as England head coach after the 2015 RWC, Youngs continued to play a crucial role in the England squad, being one of two ever-present scrum halves, along with Danny Care. Youngs played in all but one of England's record breaking run of 18 unbeaten matches, starting 15 of them.
British & Irish Lions
In April 2013, he was announced as one of three scrum halves for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia alongside Mike Phillips and Conor Murray. He made 2 capped appearances, off the bench for the first test in Brisbane, and then starting the second test in Melbourne alongside his brother Tom Youngs. He also made uncapped appearances against 5 provincial sides, scoring 2 tries.
Youngs was again selected as one of the three scrum halves in April 2017 for the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, alongside previous tourist Conor Murray and newcomer Rhys Webb, with Leicester Tigers teammate Dan Cole also being selected again. However, on 6 May 2017, Youngs withdrew himself from the tour party due to family reasons and was replaced by Scotland international Greig Laidlaw.

International tries

TryOpposing teamLocationVenueCompetitionDateResultScore
1Sydney, AustraliaANZ Stadium2010 Tour of Australasia19 06 2010Win21 – 20
2Dunedin, New ZealandForsyth Barr Stadium2011 Rugby World Cup10 09 2011Win13 – 9
3Dunedin, New ZealandForsyth Barr Stadium2011 Rugby World Cup24 09 2011Win67 – 3
4London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2012 Six Nations17 03 2012Win30 – 9
5Johannesburg, South AfricaEllis Park Stadium2012 Summer Internationals16 06 2012Loss27 – 36
6Johannesburg, South AfricaEllis Park Stadium2012 Summer Internationals16 06 2012Loss27 – 36
7London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2015 Six Nations14 02 2015Win47 – 17
8London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2015 Six Nations21 03 2015Win55 – 35
9London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2015 Six Nations21 03 2015Win55 – 35
10London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2016 Summer Tour Warm-Up29 05 2016Win27 – 13
11London, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2016 Autumn Internationals03 12 2016Win37 – 21
12Cardiff, WalesMillennium Stadium2017 Six Nations11 02 2017Win21 – 16
13Newcastle upon Tyne, EnglandSt James's Park2019 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up06 09 2019Win37 – 0
14Tokyo, JapanAjinomoto Stadium2019 Rugby World Cup05 10 2019Win39 – 10