MY ACCOUNT
Ben Youngs said the “magnitude” of becoming England’s most-capped men’s player has yet to sink in, after the 32-year-old surpassed Jason Leonard by making his 115th international appearance in the Six Nations win over Wales.
Youngs came on from the bench during England’s 23-19 win over the Six Nations holders at Twickenham, as Eddie Jones’ side survived a second-half Wales comeback to follow up their 33-0 thrashing of Italy with another crucial win.
Leicester scrum-half Youngs, who made his senior international debut against Scotland in March 2010, said he needed time to reflect upon his accomplishment.
“I’ve tried to convince myself that today and tomorrow I will sit back and try and absorb it all,” he said.
“I don’t think the magnitude of what’s happened has sunk in.”
Harry Randall was England’s starting scrum-half for the contest, but Youngs said he had no qualms with playing a supporting role to the 24-year-old in his own veteran years.
“Right now I’m getting a huge amount of joy in helping this young team,” Youngs added. “While Eddie still thinks I have value and I feel I have value, it seems all right.
“Now I can reflect on that moment and to have the family witness it as well, it was a fabulous occasion.”
England have now won each of their six Tests at home to Wales since their Rugby World Cup defeat at Twickenham in 2015. Only on two previous occasions have they enjoyed a longer such run against the Dragons (a run of 10 Tests between 1990 and 2007, and a run of eight Tests between 1910 and 1929).
England coach Jones, meanwhile, praised his side for their victory but called for more ruthlessness in future contests, before hailing Youngs for his landmark appearance.
“It was a very good win for us,” Jones said. “Plenty of resilience, plenty of toughness.
“The last five or six minutes I thought we were exceptional, for a young team that is developing I thought there were some good signs out there tonight. [But] we have to be more ruthless when we get into the opposition’s 22.
“It [Youngs’ record] is a great tribute to his work ethic, his resilience, his toughness, to be the most capped England player.
“He has matured into a great team man, there is no better team man than him. He always wants to be the starting half-back but he has accepted for this game that he was a finisher – he came on and played brilliantly.
“We are so lucky to have a guy like him with such experience.”
England’s victory leaves them second in the Six Nations table, trailing early leaders France by four points, after their 36-17 win in Scotland.
