There were hugely emotional scenes at Twickenham as ex-England star Tom Youngs lifted the Gallagher Premiership trophy aloft with his former team-mates, just over a week on from tragically losing his wife Tiffany.
In 2014, Tiffany was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma—a form of blood cancer— and fought the disease for three years before being told the illness was terminal. In 2018 however, she then heard she was in a state of remission but her cancer battle continued and last Wednesday, Leicester Tigers released a statement confirming the sad news.
But in a touching moment on Saturday after Leicester's Premiership final heroics, the club's former skipper Youngs made his way out onto the field to join his ex-team-mates as they celebrated their title victory in front of a packed house at Twickenham.
His former side won a thriller to be crowned champions, as Freddie Burns' drop goal 21 seconds from time secured a remarkable late win. After the win an elated Burns said: "I can’t believe it. I genuinely can’t. I thought moments like this weren’t made for me.
"It has been a long career. I’ve come close on a few occasions in semis. You start thinking it’s slipping away." As the Tigers celebrated, captain Ellis Genge called for his predecessor Youngs to come out onto the Twickenham pitch to celebrate with his former colleagues.
The 35-year-old embraced in a number of hugs with the title winners, and arguably the biggest cheer of the afternoon from the travelling fans went up when the former captain entered the celebrations.
In emotional fashion, both Genge and Youngs collectively lifted the title, as the Tigers were crowned Premiership champions for the first time in nine years.
There were a whole host of tributes paid towards Youngs and his family including from ex-England international David Flatman.
The former Saracens and Bath man took to Twitter to write: "Tigers top dogs. Absolutely relentless set of blokes. Seeing the legend Tom Youngs in there smiling the best bit."
