Retiring Ben Youngs names the proudest moment of his England career
Ben Youngs has named his proudest moment in the England shirt. First capped in March 2010, the 34-year-old is set to win his 127th cap on Friday night when he plays his last Test match.
Looking back on his career as the most capped men’s English player of all time, he suggested it was hard to sum it all up.
"Really difficult to answer as I have got a lot,” he said when asked what his most memorable memory is. “Playing alongside my brother (Tom) was an incredibly proud moment.
“Having a tough spell off the field and still continuing to play for England, do all that when there was a lot of stuff going on obviously away from the game, to get to 100 caps and be part of that group is very special.
"The main thing is being able to do it consistently with such a hard position to play in and with such hard competition.
"I have had four coaches with England [Martin Johnson, Stuart Lancaster, Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick] and I have been picked by all four of them.
"That is a nice touch as every coach has a preference and every coach wants to do different things. But to be picked by all four, I'm proud of that as it shows I clearly bring something to the party."
Friday night versus Argentina in the bronze final will be Youngs’ first start at France 2023 following two runs off the bench last month against Japan and Chile. What will he miss when no longer involved with England?
"There is a few things. I'll miss the adrenaline of running out in front of a full stadium. I'll miss the pressure of games. That pressure you are going to get when the game is on the line and everything like that.
"I'll miss the build-up to when it's a big week and with your team-mates. Just the camaraderie, that common goal of trying to achieve something special within an elite group. Equally, I'll look back fondly and with contentment. One door closes, another door opens."
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After a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
Go to commentsSuper Rugby Pacific has been better as a spectacle due to the emphasis on speeding the game up and I’d look at taking things a step further. Instead of giving teams 90 seconds to take a conversion, let’s bring that down 60 seconds. You could also look at allowing 45 seconds for a penalty goal. Maybe teams could get 20 seconds instead of 30 to form a scrum before the ref then starts the engagement process. However, this year the most pleasing change is the added competitiveness in the Trans Tasman matches. What does frustrate me is how the rugby media in Australasia allow the the whole ‘‘rugby is boring’’/’’rugby yawnion’’ narrative to take hold from from vindictive league types, the chairman of the ARL commission and News Limited Australia. Stick up for the game and shift the narrative!
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