How Leicester's Youngs 'transformed' from a struggling centre into an England hooker

|

UPDATED:

22:45 GMT, 7 November 2012

Tom Youngs had just finished displaying his fighting qualities – quite literally – when Heyneke Meyer, now coach of the Springboks, made the radical suggestion which would change his career.

The 25-year-old will be included in the England team to face Fiji in the opening QBE International at Twickenham on Saturday.

His name will appear at hooker, but three years ago he was a centre trying to break into the Leicester first team.

Fledgling: Tom Youngs has transformed from a struggling centre to an England hooker

Meyer had taken charge of the Tigers and the sight of Youngs trading blows with an opposition prop convinced the South African that his future lay in the front row, not in midfield.

'Heyneke was the one who suggested the change,' said Tom, whose brother, scrum-half Ben, will be among the England replacements on Saturday.

'I captained the second team against Saracens and got in a massive brawl. He came up to me and said, “I think you've got what it takes to play in the front row. I want to make you a hooker”.

'He told me to have a think about it, but I had already made my decision and I told him that I wouldn't mind giving it a go.'

And so began what Youngs refers to as the 'transformation'.

He went on a crash course of heavy weight training in the gym, while hurriedly learning about throwing in at lineouts and the murky world of the scrum.

'It was a culture shock,' he said, at the launch of O2 Inside Line, the behind-the-scenes show from inside the England camp.

Competition: David Paice (left) is keeping a close eye on fellow hooker Youngs (right) in training on Wednesday

Join me: Tom's brother, Ben, had already broken into the England setup

'I remember my first scrum – it was in a second-team game against Gloucester at Welford Road. I ran on and Coley (Dan Cole) was there to talk me through it.

'I just fired in and pushed as hard as I could. Then I gradually learned the technical bits after that.'

Youngs needed somewhere away from the Premiership to hone his new craft and bang on cue, Nottingham called the Tigers to ask if they could borrow a hooker.

Richard Cockerill sent him off as a raw apprentice and he returned as a promising front-row forward.

But it was a painful education.

'My first 80 minutes at hooker was for Nottingham, against Leicester,' said Youngs.

'Their front row was Castro (Martin Castrogiovanni), Mefin Davies and Marcos Ayerza.

'The Leicester conditioner said to me after the game that I looked like I fatigued really badly and was not running nicely. I said, “I can hardly hold my neck up, that's why!”.

'I took painkillers for the rest of the week. I was in agony! But slowly I got used to it.'

Historic: Tom (left) and Ben (right) will be only the third brothers to play for England together since the war

During that period, when he was finding his feet in a new position in the Championship, Ben had surged into the England team.

'I was immensely proud when Ben started playing for England,' he said. 'I would come down on a Saturday to see him play at Twickenham, then play for Nottingham on the Sunday.

'Now my family are really excited at the prospect of us playing together at Twickenham.

'We played together in the back garden, with all my cousins and they are over the moon for me.'

One of the reasons Tom has made it this far is that he has learned – with help from RFU psychologist Matt Thombs – how to cope with the inevitability of making mistakes.

'I was a bit like a headless chicken,' he said. 'If I threw a “not straight” I would run into a ruck from the side and give away a penalty.

'I didn't know how to control those emotions, but Matt has helped.

'Everyone misses a lineout, everyone misses a kick. It just happens.'

What doesn't just happen is a transformation from centre to hooker, a remarkable triumph of dedication.

The reward comes at Twickenham on Saturday.