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'This weekend for me is like playing in a Test match'

By Chris Jones
Ben Youngs of Leicester Tigers goes past Marcus Smith (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England scrum half Ben Youngs has admitted it has been tough watching other teams battle it out for the Premiership title while Leicester have struggled and has told his young team mates to relish the Premiership semi-final play off with arch-rivals Northampton at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

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This has become an incredibly emotional match for the Youngs family following the death this week of Tiffany, the wife of his brother Tom, after her long battle with cancer. A minute’s applause will be held before kick off as the Tigers family rallies around the brothers who have given so much to the club.

Leicester won the last of their record 10 league titles nine years ago and speaking before news of the family tragedy was revealed, Youngs highlighted the opportunity the club had created after a difficult period that saw Tigers finish 11th in successive seasons before the appointment of Steve Borthwick as head coach in 2020 allowed them to climb to sixth at the end of last season.

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Youngs said: “When you have for a while not been anywhere near the play-offs, watching it from afar and watching other teams get success you do think ’Will we have a genuine shot again?’ When you are younger you take it for granted a bit, some of the young lads have had a really successful year but you don’t want them take it for it granted and that this happens every year. It doesn’t and I certainly realise that.

“I treat this game like a Test match. This weekend for me is like playing in a Test match, exactly the same process, it is a massive game.”

Despite making history and topping the table for every round this season, Youngs is taking nothing for granted and Harlequins’ triumph last season having finished the regular season in fourth place is a warning to Tigers. Quins went to Bristol and won 43-36 in extra time in the semi-final and beat Exeter Chiefs in an amazing final.

“The Quins game was pretty bonkers, great for rugby but bonkers” admitted Youngs. “It just shows it doesn’t matter at this stage if you come first, second, third or fourth. We are one of four teams battling for it and you just never know. You take care of what you need to take care of, execute our game plan and see where that gets us.”

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That plan will revolve around the kicking strategy that has underpinned their season with Youngs and George Ford, who is joining Sale next season, the main architects. It does lead to kick-tennis but with Ford able to deliver his wickedly spinning bombs, allied to a well organised kick chase, Leicester have dominated these exchanges all season

Northampton have their own key play makers in half backs Dan Biggar and Alex Mitchell and Youngs is relishing the battle. He added: “I think it’s safe to say the halfbacks are going to have a pretty big say on who is going to win the game.

“They (Saints) are pretty lucky with the amount of playmakers and distributors they have, It allows them to put width on the ball. George Furbank can slot in at 10 and push Dan out and you have got Rory Hutchinson as well, they have got some nice ball players and it allows them to move the ball from wide to wide.

“From a defensive point of view, sometimes you can get fixated on trying to stop one guy but it is not as simple as that. It is about doing it collectively, defence is about doing it together, we have got to cut off those guys’ time and space. You sit off Dan or you sit off George then they will pick you off.”

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Leicester’s 23-14 quarter final loss to Leinster in the Heineken Champions Cup has taught the team some important lessons and Youngs believes it will help them against Saints. “No team is going to roll over or give up on anything in a semi or any knock-out game in. We need to probably take some lessons from Leinster and we didn’t get it right that day.

“We felt like we probably didn’t get the start of our game right. We felt we were a little bit dictated to by Leinster. We lost some of the early exchanges and it’s about how we do that better in big games.”

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J
Jon 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

28 Go to comments
A
Adrian 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

28 Go to comments
T
Trevor 11 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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