Why Ben Youngs craves 'Raffi's D and Harry's feel for when to tap'
Twelve years after making a Test level debut against Scotland in March 2010 as a fresh-faced 21-year-old, Ben Youngs will head back to Murrayfield next weekend as the second oldest member of the current England squad. Only Courtney Lawes, who turns 33 on February 23, eclipses the veteran scrum-half in the age stakes.
However, while you would understandably think that Youngs has seen and lived it all throughout his 110 appearances for England, there has very much been a refocus in recent times that is very much keeping him on his toes.
Youngs turns 33 next September but rather than having the likes of the 35-year-old Willi Heinz, the soon-to-be-30 Dan Robson or the 29-year-old Ben Spencer vying for his jersey, he now has competition in the guise of the 24-year-old Harry Randall and the 20-year-old Raffi Quirke.
With these whippersnappers being so young and each having just two caps so far in their fledgling England careers, you might say that Youngs shouldn’t have much to watch out for given he has been on the international scene for so long, but the veteran scrum-half has a forensic eye trained on both rookies to see what fresh tricks of the trade he can pick up and add to his own arsenal.
Of course, it is a two-way street, Youngs volunteering whatever knowledge he can to help Randall and Quirke made the grade at international level. But it is intriguing all the same what the old dog England No9 is learning from the two youngsters battling it out to provide the bench cover to Youngs next weekend at Murrayfield.
“Harry came in the last Six Nations, got injured halfway through the tournament, did his ankle in training,” began Youngs when asked by RugbyPass about his rapport with the cub England No9s now keeping him company in the squad. “I know Harry anyway, knew him before he was even in the squad for the last Six Nations. And then Raffi, it’s sort of a breakthrough year for him I guess doing the U20s and then coming through this season.
“They are like sponges those two. They want to learn, they want to ask questions, they want to know, they want to work together and it is great for me. You look at those guys and what they are bringing. We are seeing this young crop of nines now which is exciting.
“For me, it means I have got to learn off them and find more in myself and equally for them they can learn something off me and also find a bit more as well because of all three of us. Yeah, the position seems to be in good shape certainly.”
Tell us more: what can a Test veteran really learn from some rookie newcomers? “One of Raffie’s real good strengths is obviously he has naturally got his running game and all those bits but what he does in defence and the pressure he puts on and how he gets in a line, you see with Alex Sanderson that he has already sort of had that role at Sale and it has rubbed off on him and I’m looking at that and seeing what that is.
“Harry has got a natural feel for when to up the tempo. He looks to quick-tap a lot at Bristol and it’s just looking at when he chooses to do those opportunities, picking his brains about that and what he is looking for – why did you do it then and why not then?
“My running game is something that I really enjoy and I still pride myself on so if I can get a bit of Raffi’s D in me and a bit of Harry’s feel for when to tap, it adds and I can just pass on my experience to them knowing that we hopefully can help each other. That is the goal.”
Being twelve and eight years older than the newbies, what has it been like the 30-something to get on their wavelength? “Quite easy to be fair. When you are a rugby player and you are in a changing room every day you kind of never grow up. It’s quite alright, to be honest with you.
“When they are young guys at their club they have got guys that are all different ages and all different backgrounds like that, so coming together (with England) is pretty easy. We always find something in common, so it is not hard at all.”
Jones has undoubtedly shaken up the make-up of his England squad since last year’s fifth-place Six Nations finish, introducing a flurry of new faces that have given the set-up a more youthful complexion. Having been so long on the go, Youngs could understandably have also been handed his cards but he demonstrated across the Autumn Nations Series he is still a big-game player.
What especially keeps coming back for more in the England shirt? “There is plenty that keeps me coming back. I love what I do, firstly. That is the biggest motivation, I love what I do and that love has never gone so if you love what you do, why would you lose motivation?
“For me, I love it, I love competing, I love playing rugby, I love getting the opportunity to represent England and I still feel like I can add. It’s great. I saw Matt Giteau the other day, he has signed another year in America. He played in the ’03 World Cup. Why is he doing it? Because he still loves the game, he still feels like he can add. It’s no different for anyone. We’re sportsmen, we compete and that is what I am about.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments