Ben Youngs: ‘I can’t quite put my finger on why it just didn’t happen’

In theory Ben Youngs should be sitting in Oadby on a grey midweek lunchtime thinking solely about Leicester’s next game. No one would ever describe a derby against Northampton as a mundane fixture and the Tigers, who are above only Saracens in the Premiership table, badly need a win.

For all his efforts to start afresh, though, Youngs cannot entirely shake off the after-effects of Saturday 2 November. It is the same for all England’s players and coaches – how do you rationalise a World Cup final that fell so far short of everyone’s expectations? One moment Youngs is about to become a national treasure, the next he is being asked the same recurring question: where did it all go wrong?

Four weeks on, the 30-year-old freely admits he is still “searching for answers”. South Africa were formidably good but is there anything he and England might have done differently? Even his wife, Charlotte, has been curious to know.

“It’s probably one of the hardest games I’ve ever had to think about afterwards and try to put my finger on why and how it didn’t quite happen. The ifs and buts still come to my mind. My wife asked if I would change anything. I told her I wouldn’t have done anything differently in the week leading up to the game. I wouldn’t have changed anything the team did, meetings, anything.”

OK, so how about the theory England effectively played their “final” against the All Blacks in the semi? “I don’t agree with that, no. I felt like we were unbelievably prepared for South Africa, as much as we were for New Zealand. I didn’t feel there was any complacency. We prepped no differently from Tonga to New Zealand to South Africa.”

Was Eddie Jones correct, then, to suggest that, in hindsight, he had been wrong to retain George Ford at fly-half? Youngs plays alongside the latter every week and is not convinced by his coach’s analysis. “I never go against him but from an individual point of view and how I felt that week the team were really prepared and ready to go. It is just him searching for answers like we all are. Coaches see what we can’t but they don’t feel what we feel. I can’t quite put my finger on why it didn’t happen but it just didn’t.”

Could it conceivably have been the delayed arrival of the team bus at Yokohama Stadium which threw everything out of kilter, even before Kyle Sinckler was floored in the third minute?

Again, Youngs thinks not. “It was just one of those things. The bus just took longer than anticipated. I didn’t notice anyone strapping themselves up early, though when we arrived at the stadium everything was pushed a little bit. I like to go out on the pitch beforehand and walk around. I didn’t get the chance to do that. But to say that had a knock-on effect would be clutching at straws. We trained and prepared to be adaptable. To say because we were 20 minutes late it had an effect would be mad. I had some good tunes on. I was all right. I didn’t notice anyone getting agitated. Once you’re in the changing room you’ve just got to prepare and get on with it.”

All of which would imply England were simply outmuscled and outmanoeuvred by a stronger, smarter team on the day. Youngs does not disagree. “We got into an arm wrestle we didn’t want to get into against South Africa and found it very hard to get out of. They are almost Saracens-esque: you don’t want to be chasing them. You want them to do the chasing and we just weren’t able to do that.”

Youngs competes during Leicester's European Challenge Cup game against Pau.



Youngs is determined to lift Leicester away from trouble at the bottom of the Premiership. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

As self-critical professional sportsmen there is also the nagging sense too few individuals played to their full capacity. Youngs is honest enough to admit he was one. “I was guilty of that. I threw one pass over the top that went into touch. I could run that play another 40 times and I wouldn’t do that. I don’t think it was the occasion. Everyone was in a good place leading up to it, not relaxed in a bad way. We had clarity, we knew how we wanted to play. You can deal with a few uncharacteristic mistakes from one bloke but when they add up across the board it has a domino effect.”

Rather than ignoring the African elephant in the room before the Six Nations, Youngs clearly believes it needs addressing. Without a proper sense of closure you sense those involved will find it difficult to move on. Youngs, either way, has no intention of retiring – “Right now I feel I can definitely add to the team … I still very much want to be a part of it” – and needs only five more caps to bring up his century in an England jersey. Overhauling the 114-times capped Jason Leonard – “That would be nice!” – as his country’s most-capped international is starting to become a realistic goal.

In the meantime it is all about summoning up the energy, both mental and physical, to help Leicester – who lost 36-11 at London Irish in their last league outing – resurrect their season. While their six England World Cup players will be back in the starting lineup for the first time at Franklin’s Gardens, they are up against an in-form Saints side who have successfully reinvented themselves under Chris Boyd. “Success this year would probably be top six,” Youngs says. “You have to be realistic. Things don’t change overnight and it’s just really important we get some consistency.

“At the back end of last season it was a horrible feeling, looking over your shoulder, worrying about other results, trying to predict what might happen. It’s no fun for anyone.”

Painful experience has also taught him that Saracens are far from guaranteed to stay rooted to the bottom of the table despite their 35-point deduction for breaking the salary cap.

“I would say it is a huge mistake to assume that. Saracens have still got an unbelievable squad. It wouldn’t surprise me if they ended up catching up a lot of teams.”

The Yokohama final still rankles but relegation with the Tigers really would feel like the end of the world.

source: theguardian.com