When Ben Youngs emerged from the replacements’ bench at Twickenham last Saturday, wearing a commemorative pair of boots, he became England’s most-capped men’s player of all-time.
Youngs assumed the mantle from World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Jason Leonard, who won the last of his 114 England caps during the men’s Six Nations 2004.
The Leicester Tigers scrum-half still has some way to go until he can claim his country’s outright appearance record, however.
A Norfolk boy who made English rugby history 🌹
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 28, 2022
This is how much the @benyoungs09 record-breaking milestone meant to those at @HoltRFC ❤️#BenYoungs115 pic.twitter.com/EudwKkYpAw
Should he feature against Ireland on 12 March he will draw level with Katy Daley-Mclean and Tamara Taylor on 116 caps, but Sarah Hunter (132) and Rocky Clark (138) will still be out in front.
In acknowledgment of Youngs’ remarkable achievement, we take a look at the numbers behind his 12-year England career.
1 – Youngs’ first England cap came during a 15-15 draw against Scotland at Murrayfield on 13 March, 2010. The scrum-half came on for winger Ugo Monye.
2 – Draws in his test career to date. Both came against Scotland, the first on his debut and the second a 38-38 classic at Twickenham in 2019.
12 – Career test wins against Australia and Italy, more than against any other country. Youngs has a 100 per cent record against the Azzurri, winning on each of his 12 meetings with them.
14 – Rugby World Cup appearances, across three tournaments. Only nine England men’s players have appeared in more Rugby World Cup matches.
15 – Test appearances against Australia and Wales. Of those he has beaten the Wallabies 12 times and Wales on nine occasions.
18 – His first try for England came in the 18th minute of his first test start, against Australia in Sydney on 19 June, 2010. The visitors went on to win the match 21-20.
20 – The scrum-half has scored 20 tries in his 115 caps, the most recent of which came against Tonga in November. Youngs touched down twice in the 69-3 win at Twickenham.
21 – Number of his England appearances that came alongside brother Tom. They first represented their country together during the 54-12 win against Fiji on 10th November, 2012 and were both named in the England starting 15 for the first time two weeks later against South Africa.
80 – Victories in his 115 test appearances, a win rate of 69.6 per cent.
91 – Of Youngs’ test appearances for England have come from the start. He has been a used replacement on 24 occasions.
100 – Points Youngs has scored in his England career, all of which have come via tries. Of the 20 times he has crossed the whitewash, four have come against Italy and three in matches versus Wales.