Eighteen years after he might have done so as a player, and with 129 international caps in between, Ben Youngs will make it to the Dubai Rugby sevens this season.
How times change. Back then, he was just a teenager aspiring to a career in the pro game. As the third-choice scrum-half for Leicester Tigers he was given time off to go and represent England on the World Sevens Series – but only belatedly in the season.
He missed Dubai, but played in Hong Kong and Adelaide. It was a brief foray into the abridged format before returning to build a record-breaking career in the XVs game.
The 127 appearances he went on to make for the senior side are the most by anyone for England, and he played two Tests for the British & Irish Lions, too.
The now-retired scrum-half will not be turning out for one of the all-star charity sides in the 10-a-side vets event at The Sevens at the end of November.
At present, at least, it seems unlikely he will be competing in the Wodon3 fitness competition, either, although he has not closed the door entirely.
“Basically, I’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then to get back into some sort of shape,” he said, during a flying visit to the city this weekend.
Instead, Youngs will be hosting coaching clinics, as well as a live recording of his podcast. Coincidentally, his podcast co-host Dan Cole – who is second in the list of England’s appearance makers – did once play in Dubai. Which feels odd: as a prop forward, Cole was less than ideally suited to the annual sevens event.
Instead, he appeared alongside players like Danny Care and Danny Cipriani in the 2006 Junior World Championship, which was played at Dubai Exiles and Sharjah Wanderers.
Their podcast, For the Love of Rugby, is distinct from its packed field of competitors by way of the time Youngs and Cole spend trying to explain the game, rather than telling tales of their times as players.
“We love it,” Youngs said. “When we first set this up, we wanted people to listen and go, ‘These boys really care about the game and put it in a positive light.’
“In rugby, there’s so many moving parts. It can be incredibly confusing for some people because, you watch it and something happens and if you ask someone, ‘Why did that happen?’ they might go, ‘Well, they just got it and beat them’.
“Then I’d think, ‘Well, let me break it down for you.’ I've really enjoyed that part of it and being able to break it down, hopefully in layman’s terms.”
Maybe Youngs and Cole could use their away day in Dubai to decrypt exactly what is going on with sevens.
The world series is being revamped for the third time in five seasons, attracting much criticism in the process, and the competition structure is becoming harder to follow than ever before.
Great Britain, to pick an example, only snuck into the core teams after finishing eighth on the series last season. And they have since announced they will be reducing the funding of a programme which was already stripped bare as it was.
It is a world away from the days when England would compete for, and often win, the title in Dubai, with matches against Wales and Scotland being some of the most frenzied of the weekend rugby carnival.
“You want that rivalry, don’t you?” Youngs said. “I think in rugby it is a great that there is a healthy rivalry and it’s done in a form of banter.
“It has changed and it’s different, but if you are just watching it, you can still be highly entertained. Maybe it’s a little bit different because it’s GB, but you could still be totally entertained by that.”
The changes mean players using sevens as stepping stone to big things in the XVs game are becoming fewer. It seems a pity, as Youngs himself said playing sevens was “one of the best things I did”.
“How it used to work at the time was England sevens would have no central contracts,” Youngs said.
“They had three or four players that were regulars and then the rest of the team would be made up by players that were available.
“At the time that I did it, that was the stage where they were using it as a pathway. I’d done England Under 20s and there were about four of us from there that they pinpointed, picked out, and said, ‘You do a couple of tournaments throughout the year because it will help with your development’.
“And, honestly, it was one of the best things I did. I think it had a huge influence, and I feel like you look at a lot of people, some of the global superstars, they all wore seven shirts at some point.”
Antoine Dupont, the scrum-half Youngs regards as the best he ever played against, is one such player.
He was already a global star of the XVs game when he dipped into the abbreviated format for long enough to help France win gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
“A massive part of XVs is what sevens has done,” Youngs said.
“They’re totally different games in many ways, but Dupont jumping back and doing his thing as well has been huge for the game.”
The dream seven
Ben Youngs played for every England representative side, and won more XVs caps than anyone else for his country. He did play on the World Sevens Series, but he missed out on playing in Dubai.
When The National asked him to name a dream sevens side of players he played with – the only rule being he had to name himself – this is what he came up with.
Tom Curry
“He hasn’t played sevens, but he could,” Youngs said of the British & Irish Lions back rower. “The guy is a machine, so he’d be absolutely fine. I need him whacking things and getting the ball back for us.”
Ben Earl
“He’s just been on the Lions tour, he’s as quick as a back, but very powerful,” Youngs said of the England loose forward.
Ben Youngs
It was mandated that he had to pick himself. He played in Hong Kong and Adelaide Sevens for England before going onto become their most capped XVs player ever.
George Ford
Youngs was frequently paired with Ford at club and international level. “One of the best skillsets of anyone I’ve ever played with,” Youngs said. “Incredibly fit, which is handy, but also creative.”
Mathew Tait
A flying back who won the Dubai Sevens in 2005, played in a World Cup final in XVs, and is now tournament director at The Sevens. “I played with him at Leicester,” Youngs said. “If you watched him in the Commonwealth Games [in Melbourne in 2006], he was awesome.”
Dan Norton
“He’s been one of the greatest to ever grace sevens, so he’d be in there,” Youngs said of the format’s record try scorer.
Tom Vardnell
Won the Dubai Sevens with England in 2005, a week after having made his debut for their XVs side at Twickenham. “He was unbelievable,” Youngs said of his former Leicester teammate.
Replacement
Sam Simmonds
“Played for England, and in the back row for Exeter for a long time,” Youngs said. “He is another guy who could run around all day.”
