Ben Youngs, England’s most-capped rugby player of all-time, recently visited Dubai to attend the Emirates Dubai 7s Long Lunch, a fundraising event supporting the 7s For Good CSR initiative, which funds projects in disadvantaged communities.
For Youngs, this time of year would usually mean preparing for the first game of the new Premiership season with Leicester Tigers, the club where he spent his entire career.
However, after retiring at the end of last season, Youngs is now adjusting to life after rugby and coming to terms with the fact that he will no longer be stepping onto the pitch as a player.
He has now found different avenues to remain competitive in life.
One of these new avenues is the world of podcasting. Youngs and his former teammate and close friend, Dan Cole, now host ‘For the Love of Rugby,’ a podcast aimed at taking listeners behind the scenes while providing valuable insights into what is happening on the pitch and why.
The podcast has been a huge success since launching in 2024, and the duo will be broadcasting from this year’s Emirates Dubai 7s, taking place from November 28-30 at The Sevens Stadium, where Youngs is excited to watch what he believes is a fantastic format of the sport.
“I love rugby sevens,” he says. “It’s fast-paced, so entertaining, and they’re unbelievable athletes. You could get the best 15s player to go and play sevens, and not everyone can do it. Antoine Dupont obviously did; he smashed it. He’s the greatest player I’ve ever witnessed. But there are other guys who found the transition hard and didn’t necessarily nail it.
I just think, how can you go to watch rugby sevens and not be entertained? There’s a party atmosphere, and I guess it’s very similar to the IPL, where it’s good fun, the crowd is very involved, and it’s brilliant. I tip my hat to the sevens boys.”
Youngs’ decision to retire at the end of last season marked the end of an outstanding career, which saw him win five Premiership titles, four Six Nations championships, represent England at four World Cups, and receive two call-ups for the British Lions. He played in 2013 and withdrew for personal reasons in 2017, while also achieving the impressive accolade of becoming England’s most-capped player with 127 appearances.
While Youngs’ playing career may have ended, the podcast ensures he remains involved in rugby, a sport where he has so much to offer.
His autobiography will be released soon, and Youngs is looking forward to sharing his story—the highs and lows both on and off the pitch—with others.
“It’s called ‘Beyond the Line: My Life in Rugby,’ and essentially, it is beyond the line because the book takes it a little deeper,” he explains. “Of course, I talk about all my rugby experiences with England and Leicester, but equally, there’s plenty of insight into the personal side of things.
Unfortunately, I lost my sister-in-law when my brother was playing, so it goes into dealing with that. It’s as honest and open as I could ever do it, and I’m really proud of the book.
It’s a true journey of how everything unfolded and how I went from a schoolboy who loved rugby to hanging up my boots at the end.”
