THE most capped England international of all time was pleased his club side was given a rough ride at St Peter, as they fine-tune preparations for their Premiership title defence.
Leicester Tigers scrum-half Ben Youngs played the best part of an hour against Jersey Reds as the two sides began their pre-season campaigns with a nine-try show – one that ended with the Islanders sitting nine points adrift.
Four tries for the hosts, including three in a dominant second-half display, left Tigers 35-26 up, having changed ends with a healthy 28-5 advantage.
Debutants Ben Woollett and James Hadfield, captain Lewis Wynne and wing Ryan Hutler all touched down for the Reds.
‘It has been a huge benefit for us, getting out here and playing some minutes, and I’m sure it’s been a huge benefit for Jersey as well,’ said Youngs, who has 117 England appearances to his name. ‘They really got themselves back into the game in the second half.
‘We’ve got some bits that we were working on that came to fruition, and other bits that didn’t quite, but at least we’ve got some footage to look at now. We’ve had a great week here and everyone has been hugely welcoming. It’s been good fun.’
Leicester have journeyed to Jersey on four occasions in the last decade, including a visit in 2021 that featured a 17-7 victory.
‘We had a great season last year and it made sense for us to come back again,’ Youngs added. ‘But the important thing is Jersey are a good team. That was a tough game at times [on Friday] and that’s what you want in pre-season. You want a good hit out to get it into the lungs and legs and you want to be challenged, and we were. We took a lot out of the game.’
Woollett was among those keeping Tigers on their toes throughout the second half, having started with a bang. He latched on to James Mitchell’s box kick – ahead of 6ft 5in powerhouse Nemani Nadolo, the former Fiji wing – to score his first try for Jersey within minutes of his introduction.
‘I chased the ball and I was licking my lips,’ joked Woollett. ‘And I didn’t have to tackle Nadolo, which is pretty good.’
Discussing Jersey’s opening performance, he added: ‘Because we’ve got quite a lot of representation in the team with Premiership experience, they helped us settle the nerves and got everyone to take it like any other game. But, at the same time, everyone really made the most of the opportunity. This might be the best game some of us ever play, in terms of being the hardest opposition, and it was awesome. Everyone played well together. It was fun.
‘We’re already a group that plays our best footy when our tails are up and we’re playing with confidence, throwing the ball around. That performance there has given us a sense of belief that we can do it at the highest level and it gives us a lot to look at going into next week.’
