Ben Youngs becomes England’s most-capped men’s player

Ben Youngs became England’s most-capped men’s player when he came off the bench in England’s 23-19 Six Nations victory over Wales.

The Leicester Tigers scrum-half replaced Harry Randall in the 61st minute of the third-round match at Twickenham and in doing so won his 115th England cap to overtake the long-standing record of Jason Leonard, the former Test prop and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner who played his last Test in 2004.

Youngs made his England debut against Scotland at Murrayfield during the 2010 championship and won his 100th cap against Italy in 2020, marking that occasion with two tries.

He didn’t have quite such an impact on this match against Wales but he did kick the ball out to mark the end of the game after England managed to thwart a late Wales surge to hold on for the win.

The 32-year-old, who also won two caps for the British & Irish Lions on their 2013 tour of Australia, has played in three World Cups – 2011, 2015 and 2019 – and is expected to go to a fourth next year given that he has been a mainstay in the side under Eddie Jones. So he should extend his caps tally significantly over the next 18 months.

Youngs, whose dad Nick and brother Tom have also represented England, is only the second man to pass 100 caps for England after Leonard, but there are several centurions in the women’s game.

Rochelle Clark is the most-capped England player of all time, playing in 137 Tests for the Red Roses. Sarah Hunter has 130 caps – with her tally set to grow in the upcoming Women’s Six Nations – while Katy Daley-Mclean (116) and Tamara Taylor (115) have also passed the three-figure milestone.

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