Charlie Elliott: Ben Youngs’ Best Career Moments

By Charlie Elliott

Ben Youngs announced his retirement from rugby earlier this week, with the scrum-half set to hang up his boots at the end of the season. 

A true one-club man, having played for Leicester Tigers for his entire career, he made over 300 appearances in green, red and white. 

As well as that, he amassed 127 Test caps for England and became the most capped player in history, whilst also touring with the British and Irish Lions in 2013. 

He and brother Tom became an incredible duo for Tigers, with their father Nick also having a seven-year stint in the East Midlands.

That meant that the three combined for over 600 appearances for the club, a record at Welford Road. 

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World Cup Try v Romania (2011)

The 2011 World Cup was when Youngs was at the absolute peak of his powers, and he was unstoppable for much of the competition. 

His best try came in a 67-3 demolition of Romania, when he ran from his own 22 line to score, courtesy of a perfect one-two pass with Manu Tuilagi. 

Youngs showcased his brilliant ability to find gaps, his speed as well as his playmaking ability all in one move. 

While England were disappointingly knocked out by France in the quarters, it was still arguably the best tournament that the scrum-half had in a white shirt. 

Runner-up in Japan (2019)

While not as good individually as in 2011, Youngs was still a big part of England’s 2019 World Cup success in Japan, which saw them finish as runners-up to South Africa. 

He started the final and had a 75-minute stint on the pitch, and although the Springboks were convincing winners in Yokohama, he still held his own. 

It was a very flat final overall from Eddie Jones‘ side and it never clicked on the day, but simply getting there is a very good achievement and deserves credit. 

Solo Stunner vs Bath (2013)

Since making his Premiership debut in 2007 where he became Tigers’ youngest player to play in a league match at that time, Youngs has had countless great moments. 

The best try that he scored has to be the one at The Rec against Bath in 2013. 

Youngs used his intelligence to catch the Bath defence off guard with a tap penalty inside his own 22, before running 80 metres and diving over to finish in style. 

His celebration after he broke free also showed a great amount of confidence. 

It was so good that it was nominated for numerous Try of the Year awards from different boards. 

Unsurprisingly, he was called up for the Lions tour that Summer, after a great year at Welford Road. 

Dummy, then try assist against Springboks (2016)

A move that Youngs loved to make was the dummy pass, which caught so many defenders off guard at various times. 

His speed meant that he was able to drift away before the defender even knew that he hadn’t actually passed the ball. 

A great example of this was against the Springboks in 2016, which helped the team to their first win over the South Africans in over a decade. 

He sold Pieter-Steph du Toit a dummy after spotting a gap at the breakdown, before passing over to George Ford, who had little work to do to finish the move off. 

A Man of the Match performance overall in this game for the scrum-half, he really stepped up and dominated proceedings. 

2010 performance vs Wallabies 

One of the defining moments of Youngs’ early career came at only 20 years old, when he outclassed and outwitted the Wallabies when England ran out 21-20 winners in the second Test on their tour of Australasia. 

It really brought some excitement back to fans of England and brought some much-needed positivity ahead of the 2011 World Cup. 

A simply incredible dummy from the back of a lineout gave himself so much space to run into and finish off for a try, which gave England an early lead. 

In the end, with such a tight scoreline, that try proved crucial and was the best individual moment of brilliance in the whole 80 minutes. 

Even the cameraman couldn’t work out where the ball was going.