J
ust because Ben Youngs has
been around the block a fair
few times, it does not
necessarily follow that he will
be grinding to a halt any time
soon. At the age of 32, with 112 caps to
his name, and with two years to go
until the next World Cup, there has
been an assumption that Youngs’ long
tenure as England scrum half must be
coming to a close, a time to make way
for a fresher face.
That school of thought was given
additional impetus last season,European rugby has been plunged into
chaos with a total of seven weekend fix-
tures between French and British clubs
postponed in the Heineken Champions
Cup and European Challenge Cup.
EPCR, the tournament organiser,
took action after the French govern-
ment banned travel between the two
countries from last night, saying it had
received “insufficient assurances that
these matches were not at risk”.
The postponed Champions Cup
matches are Bath v La Rochelle, Sale
Sharks v Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets v
Bordeaux-Bègles, Toulouse v Wasps
and Stade Français v Bristol Bears.
The Challenge Cup games are Worc-
ester Warriors v Biarritz and London
Irish v Brive. The one exception was last
night’s game between the Dragons and
Lyons. The French team were already
in Wales when the ruling was made and
are due to return before the border
restrictions come into force.
The official plan is for the postponed
fixtures to be rescheduled although it
would appear the only way to secure a
free weekend in the Champions CupTravel ban forces seven games to be called off
would be for the round of 16 to become
a straight knockout rather than be
played over two legs.
Premiership Rugby has recorded an
enormous leap in Covid cases, with 47
players and seven members of staff
from nine different clubs testing posi-
tive in the period December 10-16. The
previous week PRL’s testing pro-
gramme returned just five positives.
The consistency of EPCR’s rulings
will now come under scrutiny. Scarlets
were forced to forfeit their game
against Bristol Bears last week because
the squad had been caught in quaran-
tine, as per Welsh government rules,
after an aborted trip to South Africa.
They were told the game could
not be rescheduled and handed a
mandatory 28-0 defeat for
being unable to fulfil the fix-
ture, which EPCR insisted was
not a punishment but a “tournament
management measure with the objec-
tive of ensuring all fixtures are account-
ed for”. Bristol lost around £300,000 in
revenue.
Cardiff had also been caught up
in quarantine but fielded a callow
side who lost to Toulouse, know-
ing that the alternative was to for-feit and lose valuable income. Yester-
day, Ospreys were also
handed a 28-0 defeat as a
Covid outbreak meant
they could not fulfil the fix-
ture against Racing 92 in Paris
— but less than two hours later all
games between British and French
clubs were postponed.
Leinster already feel aggrieved at
being made to forfeit their game away
to Montpellier. They were handed a
28-0 defeat even though they could
raise a Covid-free team and had Irish
Public Health clearance. That game
would not have been impacted because
travel remains open within the EU.
Munster will host Castres tonight,
one of five Champions Cup games still
on. Last night’s clash between Ulster
and Northampton Saints, Harlequins v
Cardiff and Glasgow Warriors v Exeter
Chiefs today and Leicester Tigers v
Connacht tomorrow, are the others.
Toulon play Zebre in the Challenge
Cup and Gloucester host Benetton
Treviso. EPCR held a board meeting
yesterday to address the crisis. “There
were insufficient assurances that these
matches would not be at risk,” it said in
a statement.George Ford is
expected to be in
action for Leicester
Tigers against
Connacht
at Welford Road
tomorrowAlex Lowe Rugby Correspondent‘Dupont is exceptional – but
14 1GS Saturday December 18 2021 | the times
Sport Rugby union
perhaps, when England were being
instructed to play a staid form of
rugby that was typified by an over-
reliance on Youngs’ box-kicking,
making him an easy target for
supporters’ frustrations. But this
season, as several new players have
been introduced and fresh life has
been breathed back into England’s
attacking game, Youngs has shown
that he remains fully up to speed with
the new generation.
If in doubt, just ask Raffi Quirke, a
scrum half 12 years younger, who
came into the England squad and
watched Youngs from close quarters
for the first time this autumn. “He’s
not slowing down, he’s still got plenty
of years left in him,” Quirke said.
“Against Tonga, he scored two tries
and he was lightning quick. I learned
so much from him in camp.”
He has been noticeably
sharp in club colours, too,
as his Leicester Tigers
side have begun the
season with an
impressive ten-match
winning run. He was
outstanding in their
victory a fortnight ago
over Harlequins, the
Gallagher Premiership
champions, and after
being rested for the win
away to Bordeaux-Bègles last
weekend, he is back at No 9 for the
Heineken Champions Cup game
against Connacht at Welford Road
tomorrow afternoon.
Just as he has Quirke snapping at
his heels for England, with Harry
Randall and Alex Mitchell on the
scene as well, at Leicester he has the
highly rated Jack van Poortvliet, 20,
keeping him on his toes, while
Richard Wigglesworth, 38, now a
player-coach with Tigers, is helping to
keep Youngs feeling young.
“For Jack, with me and Wiggy here
[at Leicester], there’s probably nothing
he is going to face that we haven’t
faced between us at some point,”
Youngs said. “The great thing about
Jack, Raffi at England, and Harry
[Randall] and Mitch [Alex Mitchell], isthat they are sponges, they just want
to learn and absorb, and I cannot
speak highly enough of those guys.
It’s great for me because it makes me
perform like I did against Quins. The
impacts you have don’t come every
game, unless you’re Antoine Dupont,
but I had some real confidence on the
back of the autumn. I’m happy to help
and my duty is to make sure that
when I finish, those [younger] guys
come in and fly. If I haven’t given
everything and shared it, then I am
doing them a disservice. I take a huge
amount of pride at being able to share
with them.”
The mention of Dupont, the France
No 9, is a reminder of the benchmark
against which every international
scrum half will be measured over the
next few years. At 25, Dupont should
be somewhere around his peak by
the time of the next World
Cup, on home soil in
France. Youngs has
started opposite him
twice and he is likely to
do so again in Paris in
the final round of
matches in the
forthcoming Six
Nations championship,
when for one 80-minute
period he will be required
to suspend his admiration.
“I’ve probably become a bit of
a fan, really, until you play against
him anyway,” Youngs said. “You’ve
had guys like Will Genia, who burst
on to the scene and changed the way
No 9s played. Dupont has come in,
he’s taken it and run with it, and
changed the way again. He’s an
exceptional talent and he’s rightly
world player of the year.
“His greatest strength is that he’s
such a stocky, powerful guy. Even
when you think you’ve got him, he
manages to wriggle out of it. He
almost could play like a crash-ball
No 12, because he’s so compact and
powerful, that’s what makes him such
a threat. He is a different shape to any
other No 9 I’ve played against, and
he’s obviously got a huge amount of
skill as well. He’s an extremelyEngland scrum half Ben Youngs
tells John Westerby about his
respect for his French
rival but insists he is
still improving in time
for 2023 World Cup
114
Jason Leonard’s England
men’s cap record.
Youngs is two short and
could pass him during
the 2022 Six NationsYoungs and
Leicester were
too strong for
Marcus Smith
and Harlequins