These are rugby headlines on Saturday, June 11.
Emotional day for Youngs
Ben Youngs will join an emotional round of applause for his late sister-in-law as he starts for Leicester against Northampton in today's Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final at Welford Road.
Youngs lines up at scrum-half against Dan Biggar's Saints just days after Tiffany Youngs, wife of Leicester, England and Lions player Tom, died after a long battle with cancer. You can read more about that sad story here.
Ahead of the match, Biggar paid tribute to Tiffany, offering condolences to the Youngs family and everyone at Leicester. He said: “A game of rugby pales into insignificance beside what that family is going through and I imagine there’s going to be a huge amount of emotion at Welford Road."
Bulls stun Leinster
The Bulls have advanced to the URC grand final after a thrilling 27-26 win over Leinster at the RDS on Friday night.
Jake White's side pulled off a shock victory in Dublin to set up a final clash against either Ulster or the Stormers, who face off against each other tomorrow afternoon.
The defeat compounds Leinster's disappointment of losing the European Champions Cup final to La Rochelle just a fortnight ago. But they only had themselves to blame, with the error count totting up and the Bulls making them pay in stunning fashion.
"It's an unbelievable win from the guys," Zak Burger said after the match on Premier Sports. "Today was all about playing for each other and showing that attitude. We know Leinster are a world-class team, I thought in the Heineken Cup they were maybe a bit unlucky. Today they brought to the game to us, but what a game of rugby, obviously we are very happy with the win."
"We spoke about it in the week - no-one really gave us a chance to come here to the RDS Arena," he added. "We spoke in the week about having faith and belief within the squad. At the end of the day it's 23 players who play, that's going to make a massive difference."
White added: "The belief was that we could win. The thing we realised is that we’ve just got to stay in the fight. Once Leinster get ahead and you have to play catch-up it’s very difficult.
"The one thing La Rochelle showed is they were there until the last play of the game and scored and won the game.
"I realised as long as we stayed in the fight, we’d be OK. When a team sees another team lose you get belief. If they had won the Champions Cup and the machine kept on rolling it would have been more difficult for us."
Legends lace up boots for one night
Fantastic scenes in Neath on Friday night where the great and good of Welsh's rugby past pulled on their boots for James Hook's testimonial.
Anyone wanting to confuse an alien from another planet need only have directed him to The Gnoll on Friday evening and told the visitor in question Shane Williams was 45 years of age.
The legendary wing rolled back the years just before half-time in the Hook testimonial match with a score of trademark quality.
Playing for a James Hook Select XV against a Classic Lions XV, Williams was confronted by three defenders. No way through?
For most other players, perhaps. In a blur Williams left all three would-be tacklers clutching handfuls of thin air, with his dancing feet taking him clear for a spectacular short-range score.
It was a superb night recognising the achievements of a model professional in Hook. To read a full report and see pictures from the night, click here.
England star scarred by Quins
Ben Earl is still traumatised by Harlequins' sensational comeback in last season's Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.
Earl will face the English champions, coached by Wales legend Adam Jones, at the same stage on Saturday, but this time it will be for Saracens following a year spent on loan at Bristol while his parent club campaigned in the Championship as punishment for persistent salary cap breaches.
Even by their standards Quins' resurrection at Ashton Gate a year ago was remarkable as they fought back from a 28-0 deficit to win 43-36 after extra-time before going on to topple Exeter in the final.
Earl was in Bristol's back row that day and the collapse has still left its mark while at the same time offering an insight into the danger posed by Saracens' opponents at StoneX Stadium.
"I certainly don't think I'm over it, even now. It was a pretty scarring experience, that's for sure," Earl said.
"The lessons I learned from it are amazing - that against this type of opposition the game is never over.
"You can be 20 points up with 10 minutes to go, then they score three tries just like that and you're up against it.
"Rugby is probably the most momentum-based game out there. If we lose that foothold in the game then we can expect a very tough afternoon.
