It is eight years since Ben Youngs made his England debut in the Six Nations, scampering on to the pitch at Murrayfield to replace the injured wing Ugo Monye in the season Youngs ceased to be a teenager, and the allure of the tournament remains as strong for the Leicester scrum-half as it was at the start of the decade.
Youngs is now 28 but remains fresh-faced, unscarred by the demands of an increasingly brutal sport that every week seems to claim a long-term injury victim. No side in this year’s Six Nations will start at full strength, some nowhere near it, but a constant for England since Eddie Jones took over at the end of 2015 has been at scrum‑half, where Youngs and his friend Danny Care have contested the position.
Youngs has started 17 of the 23 Tests under Jones and been a replacement in four, missing last year’s tour to Argentina because he had been selected by the Lions but pulled out to be with his brother, Tom, whose wife, Tiffany, had been diagnosed with cancer. Care has taken the field in six games and come off the bench in the other 17.
The pair chopped and changed in the previous regime, both going from first choice to third and back again, but Jones has consistently operated with just two scrum-halves in his squad to maximise their opportunities in training.
“The excitement at being picked in the squad for the Six Nations is as strong as it was in 2010,” says Youngs, who recently signed a new contract with Leicester, the club where he has spent his entire senior career. “The tournament means as much to me as ever: we have had great success in the last two years and want to keep growing as a side. It is a demanding two months and you have to take it game by game otherwise you lose focus. It is all about performing in Rome [next Sunday] and getting a result.
“The fact that Eddie has tended to pick only two scrum-halves in the squad gives you confidence and the way Eddie wants to play suits both of us. I get on with Danny very well; we have a strong relationship having been in the squad together since 2010 and we help each other prepare. Everything you do is about benefiting the team and it is a combined 80 minutes for the two of us. Whoever starts does everything to set up the game for a win and the guy who comes on adds to it. You work together to create the perfect 80 in the position.”
Scrum-halves are a protected species in rugby union, looked after by the forwards in front of them, like quarterbacks in American football. Opponents relish sacking them but rarely get the opportunity and players in the position tend to avoid many of the contact injuries their colleagues regularly pick up, although Wales’s luckless Rhys Webb is an obvious and recent exception. Youngs says: “You never want to tempt fate but as scrum-half you clock up the metres in running but in terms of physical contact, it is one of the lowest in the side. As long as you look after yourself with recovery and are diligent off the field, you are normally in pretty good shape to continue.
“You rely on the guys in front of you to protect you around the ruck and you are a bit like a quarterback because you want to stay on your feet and make decisions. You do, though, need luck to stay fit because teams want to slow down your attack and a good way of doing that is to get one of the half-backs on the floor.”
Since Jones walked through the main door at Twickenham, the Australian has focused on the 2019 World Cup. After abortive campaigns in 2011, when England were in disarray off the field and in little better shape on it, and 2015, when they became the first hosts to exit at the group stage, the tournament is the scar on Youngs’s career. “It is my goal,” he says. “I want to be part of a winning team in Japan next year. What happened in 2015 is a motivation, but what’s done is done.
“There is a clear focus with this group and Eddie has made a difference. He fills you with confidence and belief and we are extremely clear on our gameplan, tactically and technically. When you have such clarity, it is about going out there and doing it. You take the field having trained all week feeling: ‘Let’s have it’; the fun part is getting to do it.
“I am delighted Eddie is staying on for another two years after the World Cup. It shows that while we have a focus on the World Cup, there is ambition beyond that. He has always been clear about where he wants to take the team: he is an unbelievable motivator who is always looking at ways of getting that extra 1%, whether watching the Tour de France or visiting football clubs. He never leaves a stone unturned and it is easy to buy into what he brings.
“We aim to be the most adaptable side in the world. You train like that, making the players problem-solve. He puts us under pressure, devising various scenarios to see if we make the right calls. Everything is geared to being adaptable, robust and bullet-proof.”
Youngs has 73 caps, one of a number of England players (Care has 76) not too far away from a century. “I would be happy to get to 74,” he says. “I never thought I would get this far. My career has gone very fast since I made my debut for Leicester [in 2006], a club I love representing.
“I remember facing Toulouse as an 18-year-old and looking at all the star names in their side. I have loved the journey so far and hope it is not near its end. Tiffany’s illness has given me a perspective I did not have before. She is doing really well, a remarkable inspiration, and I have an understanding now that although rugby is very important, being what I do, there are other things that blow it out of the water. It gives you balance.”
