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Ben Youngs equals England appearance record that stood for 18 years

By PA
Ben Youngs /PA

Ben Youngs joined Jason Leonard as England’s most-capped rugby union international with his appearance against Italy on Sunday.

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The 32-year-old Leicester scrum-half came off the bench in the 55th minute at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to win his 114th cap and draw level with World Cup-winning prop Leonard.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at Youngs’ career record.

Cap comparison
Leonard and Youngs are the only players with a century of England appearances and are 17 clear of the third name on the most-capped list, Dylan Hartley.

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Owen Farrell, who has 94 with his six British and Irish Lions appearances lifting him to 100 international caps overall, is set to be the next man to reach the England landmark – though he will miss the whole Six Nations with an ankle injury and forward Courtney Lawes is not far behind him on 90.

Worldwide, George Gregan is the only scrum-half to win more caps than Youngs – 139 for Australia – while only seven number nines have reached a century.

His two appearances for the British and Irish Lions mean Sunday’s outing lifts Youngs to 116 international caps overall and the next fixture against Wales on February 26 brings the promise of more landmarks, if selected.

Lions Chairman Jason Leonard (Getty)
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As well as passing Leonard to claim the England record outright on 115, he will be playing his 50th game in the Six Nations and will move into the top 25 of the all-time world list, level with former South Africa forward Tendai Mtawarira on 117 caps.

England impact
Youngs has another England century to his name in terms of points, having scored 20 tries in his international career.

That ranks him in the top 10 for his country, level with wings Chris Ashton and Mark Cueto in the last spot.

He has started 91 of his 114 games to date and featured in 79 wins, 33 losses and two draws, giving England a 69 per cent win rate with Youngs in the side.

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That rises to 73 per cent in the Six Nations, with 36 wins out of 49, and 71 per cent (10 of 14) at the World Cup.

By way of comparison, Leonard’s 114 games brought 86 wins – 76 per cent – with 26 losses and two draws. He started 102 times and his lone try came against Argentina in 1996.

Honours
Youngs has won four Six Nations titles with England, in 2011, the grand slam of 2016, 2017 and 2020.

He appeared in every match in those triumphant campaigns, starting all but four, and capped the 2020 tournament with two tries in the title-clinching win over Italy on his 100th England appearance.

He also made 17 appearances with 15 starts in England’s world record-equalling 18-game winning run from 2015 to 2017, which included that 2016 slam. He and England were unable to add the 2019 World Cup to their list of honours, though, losing 32-12 in the final to South Africa.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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TRENDING Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea
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