England scrum-half Ben Youngs bemoans lack of consistency

Ben Youngs offers baffling defence of England’s joint-worst Six Nations campaign EVER and insists Eddie Jones’ side are BETTER now than when they won title in 2020 – before admitting squad will look to address ‘trust’ issues after woeful Ireland defeat

• Ben Youngs bemoaned England’s lack of consistency after their defeat in Dublin
• England recorded their joint-worst Six Nations campaign with the 32-18 loss 
• Youngs defended his side against the critics and said they would improve 
• His baffling defence included ensuring squad would address their ‘trust’ issues

Ben Youngs defended his England side against the critics despite the horrendous 32-18 loss in Dublin but admitted frustration at his side’s discipline – yet again.

England beat only Italy and France in this Six Nations and were handed losses by Scotland, Wales and Ireland to complete a Triple Crown of defeats for the first time since 1976.

They limped home to win the delayed tournament in 2020 and landed the Autumn Nations Cup but looked a shadow of the side that thrashed New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup.

Ben Youngs (centre) bemoaned England’s lack of consistency after the 32-18 defeat by Ireland

Regardless of the defeat, Youngs says Eddie Jones’ (pictured) side are better than last year

But Youngs, who won his 109th England cap in Dublin, claims the moaners are wide of the mark and no stone is left unturned despite their dismal results.

He said: ‘It’s our job. Everyone wants to be as good as they can be at their job. People get to see us on a Saturday, but they don’t get to see us in between. Trust me, we will be doing everything we can, going through the tournament with a fine tooth comb to figure out where the improvements are and what we need to address. 

‘No one wants to perform bigger than us. We’re not there to just trot about on a Saturday, we’re there to perform and put it all out there. We haven’t been consistent enough at doing that. It’s not through lack of effort, but it’s not been channelled in the right way at times.

England were also defeated by Scotland and Wales to complete a Triple Crown of defeats in the Six Nations for the first time since 1976

‘It’s very disappointing. It’s our living, you know? Every day we wake up and go through everything to be as good as we can be. We try and put a performance out on a Saturday, and no one is ever more disappointed than the players. We strive to be as good as we can be, to put out performances, and today we didn’t do that consistently enough.’

England gave Ireland 14 penalties at the Aviva as their indiscipline cost them dearly and their entire campaign has been undermined by getting on the wrong side of officials.

Youngs admits he is puzzled by his team’s generosity but reckons they are a better side than when they landed the double before Christmas.

Youngs admitted his frustration at England’s lack of discipline in the defeat by Ireland

He added: ‘If I knew the answer we would have ironed it out by now. It’s an ongoing thing. Sometimes teams put you under pressure and it forced you to give penalties away, and sometimes it happens. There were definitely a few of those. Other ones we just need to be smarter about what we’re doing and not so desperate. 

‘We’ve got a formidable defence, but have probably come away from trusting that a little bit, forcing our hand rather than hanging on in there. It’s a couple of things there we can look at, that trust and mental engagement I guess.

‘We’re a better team than we were when we won the Six Nations last year, we’re a better team than the autumn, and we’ll be a better team when we get back together. The biggest thing for us is the consistency, which has ebbed and flowed through games which isn’t what we’re after. I’ve been here before, we’ve come through the other side and will do again.’

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