Ben Youngs apologises for 'bad manners' after cutting interview short
England halfback Ben Youngs has issued an apology via social media after cutting short a television interview following his side’s series defeat against South Africa.
Youngs made quick work of his post-match interview with Sky Sports’ Gail Davis, running off to the sheds after a quick answer to just one question.
The 28-year-old was asked by Davis if England’s fifth defeat in a row felt like “a bad case of deja vu”.
Youngs quickly replied “Yeah, we’re really disappointed. We lost the series, we’re gutted about that, we’ll work hard this week and we look forward to getting it right next week,” before disappearing after just 11 seconds.
After Youngs’ exit, a disappointed Davis was heard saying “well, that was short wasn’t it”.
He has since apologised, but England scrum-half Ben Youngs was visibly unhappy with his sides series loss to South Africa.
Where do England go from here? pic.twitter.com/QLFgU22UWm
— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) June 16, 2018
Youngs later apologised on Twitter, claiming that his emotions got the best of him and that he was clearly disappointed in the result. He also said he caught up with Davis later.
https://twitter.com/benyoungs09/status/1008047591387553793
75-Test Youngs was subject to scrutiny from Sky Sports pundits and users of social media following the interview.
Journalist Piers Morgan tweeted “England can’t even front up a post-match interview let alone a Test match. Pathetic from @benyoungs09. He should apologise to Gail Davis.”
World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward said it was “simply bad manners and childish” in his column for Daily Mail.
Racing Metro and Ireland wing Simon Zebo jokingly responded to Youngs’ apology with “#rude” accompanied by an emoji.
The series will conclude at Cape Town next weekend where Youngs’ England side will be looking to avoid a southern hemisphere sweep.
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