Thomas Nicholas Youngs (born 28 January 1987) is a retired

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played as a hooker for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and England. Between 2012–2015 he won 28 caps for , including selection for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

and was selected for the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia where he played in all three test matches. He played 215 times for Leicester between 2006 and 2021, winning the

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

title in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, the same season that he was named as the league's Player of the season. He also won the 2011-12 Anglo-Welsh Cup with Leicester. Between 2009 and 2011 Youngs played 55 matches for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

where he converted from

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

to hooker.

Background

Youngs is the son of former Leicester and England scrum-half

Nick Youngs Nicholas Gerald Youngs (born 15 December 1959) is an English former rugby union footballer who played for Bedford, Leicester Tigers and England, at Scrum-half, gaining six England caps in 1983–1984. He also was an unused England reserve fi ...

, and the elder brother of current Leicester and England scrum-half

Ben Youngs Benjamin Ryder Youngs (born 5 September 1989) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers and . He made his club debut at 17 in 2007 and in 2010 made his debut for England; in 2022 he became En ...

. Originally a

, Youngs changed to play at hooker after advice from then Tigers' coach Heyneke Meyer. Youngs played for

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

and for England Schools, and also for Holt as a junior.

Club career

Youngs made his Tigers debut against

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

on Boxing Day 2006, broke his leg after five minutes and came off after thirteen. In the 2008/09 season, when he was persuaded to switch to hooker he was used by new head Coach

Richard Cockerill Richard Cockerill (born 16 December 1970) is an English rugby union coach and former player, he was the national team's interim head coach between Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick. He played as a hooker, spending the majority of his career at ...

in the Leicester "A" team as a hooker. In the 2010-2011 season he was loaned to the Leicester feeder club Nottingham R.F.C. where he was first choice hooker. Youngs started the 2013 Premiership final, alongside his brother Ben, as Leicester defeated Northampton Saints. At the start of the 2016-17 season he was announced as club captain for the Tigers, replacing lock Ed Slater after being injured for nearly half of the previous season. After taking indefinite leave during the 2021/22 season to care for his wife during illness, Youngs announced his retirement on 27 April 2022.

International career

In 2007-08, Youngs was a member of the England squad at Rugby sevens. On England's summer tour to South Africa in 2012, Youngs was taken as part of the main touring squad for experience. He played in the midweek games and his performances led to him being touted as a future England starting hooker. Due to an injury to England's first-choice hooker

Dylan Hartley Dylan Hartley (born 24 March 1986) is a former England Rugby captain who represented England and Northampton Saints. Hartley was the captain of England from January 2016 until the end of his international career in 2019. He is England's most ca ...

and the earlier retirement of second-choice

Lee Mears Lee Mears (born 5 March 1979 in Torquay) is an Executive Leadership Coach. He proudly represented England playing rugby between 2004 and 2013. He earned 42 Cap played in two world cups and played for the British and Irish Lions on the 2009 tour ...

, Youngs was awarded the number 2 shirt for England's first 2012 Autumn International match against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, and was joined on the pitch by substitute brother Ben. The Youngs brothers became the second family to have a father and two sons play for England after Sir William Milton and his sons

Jumbo Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...

and

Cecil Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

. An impressive performance meant that he retained the shirt for the second test. Youngs was named as part of the victorious Lions squad for the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. Youngs was named in Stuart Lancaster's 31- man squad for the

and went on to start all 4 games as hooker. He was controversially overlooked for the Six Nations by new coach Eddie Jones and then was injured for the Summer tour of Australia. He was overlooked again for the 2016 Autumn Internationals and was not chosen for Jones' 45 EPS Squad for the Six Nations with skipper Dylan Hartley as first-choice,

Jamie George Jamie Edward George (born 20 October 1990) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and the England national team. Early life George played for local team Hertford Rugby Foo ...

as second choice and

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...

as third choice.

References

External links

Leicester profileEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Youngs, Tom 1987 births Living people Rugby union players from Norwich English rugby union players England international rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Bedford Blues players People educated at Gresham's School Nottingham R.F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Rugby union hookers