How the Tiger came out in Pollard
Discarded England scrumhalf Ben Youngs has opened up about the ‘privilege’ of playing alongside the revitalised World Cup winner Handre Pollard.
Youngs has been relegated to a fringe selection at Test level, despite being his country’s most capped player.
However, having been reduced to the club game, has afforded him the opportunity to forge a halfback combination with Pollard in the Premiership and European Cup competitions.
It means the 33-year-old, with 122 England and two British & Irish Lions caps, is now paired regularly with Pollard as the starting No.9 and No.10 combination.
There were initial fears that Pollard’s signing might be an over-indulgence – as he was injured on his October 1 debut and wasn’t available until late December.
However, the flyhalf has since shown the best of himself and Youngs couldn’t be happier playing alongside the South African.
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“The only thing I could do [after being relegated at England] was to go back to the club and play well and I felt like I did that,” Youngs said on the latest episode of The Rugby Pod.
“I felt like I contributed to the run of results, and I really enjoyed just being at the club and playing for them and building that partnership with Handre,” he said about playing alongside Pollard, adding: “We have still got that run now.
“He [Pollard] is a very good guy first and foremost, but he has a real calming presence.
“He is not someone that says anything less than needs to be said.
“He is a very calm character, very relaxed, gives off a real sort of calm energy.
“But what he is able to do I guess is he able to mix it. Whether that is his kicking game, whether that is his distributing game, he defends very well.
“He has got a real balance to how he plays and he has brought that.
“It takes a while for any player to settle in and especially having come from France, from Montpellier where he had a bad injury and then when he got fit, he didn’t play much.
“He struggled out there and he is just really pleased to be in an environment and a place where he is thriving, and he is loving it and the environment has brought the best out of him and he is now able to then perform at the weekend. He has been class, absolute class.”
Youngs also spoke of the massive impact Springbok loose forward Jasper Wiese has had on the Tigers, coming off the bench to score the match-winning try against
“He has so much power,” the No.9 said, adding: “He is so important to how we [Tigers] play.
“He is abrasive and aggressive. He gave us plenty,” Youngs said about Wiese’s second-half impact – including a “phenomenal” finish to score the only try in a 16-6 win over Edinburgh in last Friday’s Round of 16 encounter at Welford Road.
“What a find he has been,” the England player said.
“Teams will talk him up all week, but teams still struggle to contain him.
“I enjoy passing the ball and watching him doing his thing.”
Source: @TheRugbyPod
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