Steve Borthwick has underlined the effort and sacrifices made by the Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs in order to break the England men’s appearance record.
“He’s absolutely brilliant,” was the Leicester head coach’s glowing assessment of the 32-year-old, who surpassed Jason Leonard when he came on as a replacement against Wales on Saturday, earning his 115th cap for his country.
“We all know what a quality player he is. For me the thing that stands out is being able to perform at that level for that length of time and what that takes. Not just for him but for his family as well. All of his family must be so proud of him. We’re very proud of him.”
Youngs’s services were not needed at club level at the weekend as Leicester defeated Gloucester 35-23 at Welford Road – their 15th win in 17 matches – to move 16 points clear at the top of the Premiership. But Borthwick will hope the Rugby Football Union releases Youngs to play when Leicester travel to take on second-placed Saracens on Saturday.
“They’re the best team in the league,” Borthwick said of the club he represented 144 times, captaining them to their first league triumph in 2011 when they defeated Leicester 22-18 at Twickenham. “Look at the squad they’ve got, the resources they’ve got, how long the team has been together. They’ve got incredible ability.”
Saracens did not play this past weekend and this will be the third time this season the Tigers will face a team fresh from a bye. Borthwick would not be drawn into an exchange on the matter – “I don’t write the fixture list,” he said dismissively – but it does make his task that much more difficult, especially if he will be without the internationals Ellis Genge, Freddie Steward, George Ford and Youngs who all helped England to see off Wales 23-19.
Then again, perhaps not. The last time they met on a rainy day in Leicester, Saracens had enjoyed their first bye of the campaign. It didn’t help as the Tigers’ driving maul won a penalty try after 80 minutes, snatching a 13-12 victory.
