As final auditions go, Ben Youngs could hardly have done more to press his case for inclusion in Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions squad when it is announced on Wednesday. A last-ditch try-saving tackle to stop Newcastle edging ahead was followed by a wonderful solo effort that sealed Leicester’s bonus point.
It was timely, too. Having toured in 2013 and with Greig Laidlaw yet to return for Gloucester since his ankle injury, Youngs was in the box-seat for the third scrum‑half spot along with Conor Murray and Rhys Webb but his struggles in England’s defeat by Ireland at the end of the Six Nations raised a few doubts.
In Youngs’ words it was “a nice little last push” but, while he can rest easy before Wednesday, safe in the knowledge that he could have done little more to persuade Gatland, some of his England team‑mates cannot say the same. “It is not in my hands, I will just wait and see. I will probably just go for a walk on Wednesday and I will either get a text message saying ‘well done’ or ‘hard luck’, so we will just wait and see,” Youngs said.
“Every player wants to do it and you don’t want to get obsessed with it so it is a massive let-down if it doesn’t happen. So if it comes about – fantastic – I will be over the moon, but we will find out on Wednesday. A few boys are going to Cheltenham, I might go and join them there, we’ll see. I’m not sure if I’ll tune in or just wait and see but the only thing you can do is try and put your hand up, you don’t know what style they want to play, what they’re looking for, the only thing you can do is try and play as well as you can.”
Youngs’ try was Leicester’s fourth in a 30-3 win against Newcastle and the Tigers – with Matt O’Connor celebrating his first match back in charge at Welford Road since his return to the club – are now four points clear in fourth after Bath’s defeat by Worcester. Youngs will be joined at Leicester by George Ford next season but whether they spend the summer together is another matter. Ford did not have his best match in a 25-19 defeat against the Warriors and he will need Gatland to pay close attention to his international form and his relationship with Owen Farrell if he is to be picked.
On Friday night, meanwhile, Joe Marler and Kyle Sinckler shone in Harlequins’ 39-26 defeat by Exeter and both are now in line to travel as third-choice props on either side of the scrum. Chris Robshaw was tireless as ever but his absence during the Six Nations may ultimately prove costly, while George Kruis – also just back from injury – and Courtney Lawes engaged in an absorbing battle during Saracens’ 27-25 win over Northampton.
“Courtney Lawes just seems to be getting better,” the Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, said. “His carrying and his physicality in attack, he’s been outstanding – not just in the Six Nations but since he’s been back as well.”
His opposite number, Mark McCall, was similarly effusive about Kruis. “It was great for him to get 80 minutes,” he said. “For him to get 80 minutes under his belt before next weekend [against Munster] was massive.”
Kruis’s Saracens team-mate Jamie George was outshone by his England captain, Dylan Hartley, but may yet have done enough to convince Gatland of the impact he could make from the Lions bench. “I’ll be at the training ground on Wednesday,” George said. “It’s probably the worst place to be, either way. It could be interesting. It might be a restless night’s sleep on Tuesday night. Whatever happens happens; I’ve just got to get on with it.”
Christian Wade scored his 16th Premiership try of the season as Wasps won 36-21 to condemn Bristol to relegation to the Championship but the winger is perhaps more likely to tour Argentina with England despite being in the Lions squad four years ago.
