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Youngs: Cancer battle put rugby in perspective
By Nicholas McGee
Ben Youngs has vowed to make the most of England's tour of South Africa a year on from pulling out of the British and Irish Lions' series with New Zealand due to his sister-in-law's battle with cancer.
The Leicester Tigers scrum-half withdrew from the Lions' squad after his brother Tom's wife Tiffany was informed her cancer was terminal.
Following a four-year fight against the disease, Tiffany is now in remission, her battle inspiring Youngs as he bids to help England win a Test series in South Africa for the first time.
"Being around her for so long certainly puts rugby in perspective," Youngs said.
"You realise how important times are and I will make sure I enjoy the next few weeks being here and being part of this team. And hopefully we can do something special."
England coach Eddie Jones has been the subject of criticism for training that has been described by some as overly intense.
But Youngs rejected that critique, praising England's preparation ahead of the first Test in Johannesburg on Saturday.
"The first game is so important, especially being the touring party, you don't want to take the wind out of your sails after game one," he added.
"We've had a great preparation in the two weeks building up to this and we want to make sure we are there physically but also tactically. Perhaps previous touring teams haven't been - so we have to be really smart about how we take on the Springboks.
"You want to prepare yourself for the weekend and in order to do that you need to make sure you are intense about what you do. And with everyone contributing in the last few weeks we've been able to do that.
"The guys showed up on Monday last week after the [Premiership Rugby] final and everyone just ripped in straight away.
"So it is unbelievably exciting about the challenge ahead but also we are also really excited about trying to get out there and play our game."
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Latest Comments
Has there ever been a Red and Black you don't rate GP over the years? However to be fair most of your favs have had the goods.
Go to commentsI'm not very hopeful of a better change to the sport. Putting an Aussie in charge after they failed for two decades is just disgusting. What else will be brought in to weaken the game? What new rule changes will be made? How will the game be grown?
Nothing of value in this letter. There is no definitive drive towards something better. Just more of the same as usual. The most successful WC team is getting snubbed again and again for WC's hosting rights. What will make other competitions any different?
My beloved rugby is already a global sport. Why is there no SH team chosen between the Boks, AB's, Wallabies and Fiji? Like a B&I Lions team to tour Europe and America? A team that could face not only countries but also the B&I Lions? Wouldn't that make for a great spectacle that will also bring lots of eyeballs to the sport?
Instead with an Aussie in charge, rugby will become more like rugby league. Rugby will most likely become less global if we look at what have become of rugby in Australia. He can't save rugby in Australia, how will he improve the global footprint of rugby world wide?
I hope to be proven wrong and that he will raise up the sport to new heights, but I am very much in doubt. It's like hiring a gardener to a CEO position in a global company expecting great results. It just won't happen. Call me negative or call me whatever you'd like, Robinson is the wrong man for the job.
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