'He's a legend, an absolute legend' - Leonardo Ghiraldini lavishes praise on England's Ben Youngs
BySportsbeat
Updated 11/03/2022 at 20:57 GMT
Ben Youngs' former teammate Leonardo Ghiraldini has been full of praise for his Leicester Tigers team-mate. "You get the impression that he never feels the pressure in the games. He has a crucial role, playing nine. When I was playing in Leicester it was tough to play nine. He's just such a good guy."
Ben Youngs (Reuters)
Image credit: Eurosport
Ben Youngs made history against Wales in Round 3 of the Guinness Six Nations and for one of his former Leicester Tigers team-mates, it is his ability to stay calm under pressure that has been the key to his longevity.
In the 23-19 win over the Welsh, Youngs became the all-time record holder for most caps for England's men's team, moving clear of Jason Leonard.
And Leonardo Ghiraldini, a Test centurion for Italy and team-mate of Youngs at Tigers, was glowing in his praise of the scrum-half.
Ghiraldini, who spent two seasons at Leicester from 2014 to 2016, said: "He's a legend, an absolute legend. He's just such a good guy, really calm and quiet and a funny guy in the changing room. He's always smiling, even before the games.
"You get the impression that he never feels the pressure in the games. He has a crucial role, playing nine. When I was playing in Leicester it was tough to play nine. Because you have a pack of forwards that want to keep the ball and you have so many characters and leaders but he was always calm.
"When I played against him, you could see his ability to enjoy rugby. Even at international level, he just wanted to enjoy it.
"If you see him in the street, you can't imagine that he's an international rugby player. He's a normal guy physically but he puts in the work behind the scenes.
"I remember in Leicester he would stop after training to work on his kicking game or doing more shuttles. He probably still doesn't do a lot of gym but he puts in the work. He's such a good guy to play with and against."
Ghiraldini, who called time on his own career in 2021, will be in Rome on Saturday when Italy take on Scotland as the Azzurri pay tribute to their own centurions.
The hooker, who won 107 caps for his country, is one of nine players to have reached 100 appearances for Italy, eight men and scrum-half Sara Barattin who has done so for Italy women.
Only Sergio Parisse, who is on club duty, will be absent as the centurions are honoured with a special cap recognising their services to the game in Italy.
Ghiraldini added: "I'm very happy to be involved. When we talk about rugby, this is the legacy that you want to leave. When you represent your country it's a huge responsibility.
"If you play more than 100 games it's fantastic. I don't like too much celebration of this but you know that you are part of a family.
"In the changing room at the Stadio Olimpico they have all the players who played for the national team and it has the name and the number of the player. You see that you are small part of a big family."
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