Youngs ready to shine

New cap set to follow in his father's footsteps

Last updated: 9th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Youngs ready to shine

Youngs: Following in his dad's footsteps

You dream about representing England but you look around at these guys - World Cup winners, guys who have achieved so much in the game - and it is a bit overwhelming.

Ben Youngs
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England new-boy Ben Youngs will look to go one better than his father should he make his debut against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

In-form Leicester scrum-half Youngs is set to follow in the footsteps of his father Nick after he was named on the bench for the Calcutta Cup clash.

However whereas his dad, who won six caps at scrum-half between 1983-84, tasted defeat at Murrayfield, the 20-year-old is determined to grab the bragging rights after the crunch RBS Six Nations tie.

"I've never really thought about what he achieved really and he's always been very relaxed about me playing," Youngs said.

"I've never really had that family competition but if we win on Saturday, now you've told me, I'll certainly let him know."

Youngs has got the nod ahead of Paul Hodgson for the match to provide cover to Danny Care - and despite being initially overwhelmed at his call-up, he has quickly settled in with the squad.

"You dream about representing England but you look around at these guys - World Cup winners, guys who have achieved so much in the game - and it is a bit overwhelming," he said.

Confident

"But they were all great and made me feel really welcome and of course I knew a few of the Leicester guys.

"For a couple of days it was a bit of a case of just being happy to be here but then you think I'd better get on with it.

"As a scrum-half you have to be a bit confident and once you're on the training pitch you're out there bossing everyone out again."

England boss Martin Johnson believes Youngs has justified his selection after some impressive displays for Leicester.

"A few people were surprised when Leicester let Julien Dupuy go but they knew they had a good young player there," said Johnson.

"He is an instinctive player and pretty talented and his basic skills have held up under pressure in those big games."