Saturday 15 April 2017 19:52, UK
New head coach Matt O'Connor insists Leicester Tigers scrum-half Ben Youngs should "definitely" go on the British Lions' tour of New Zealand after his superb performance in the 30-3 Aviva Premiership victory at home to Newcastle Falcons.
Youngs, 27, who made two appearances for the Lions on the 2013 tour of Australia, secured the Tigers a bonus point with a brilliant 72nd-minute solo try from a quickly-taken penalty.
He also stopped a certain try for Falcons winger Vereniki Goneva with a fine last-ditch tackle in the 30th minute with the scores level at 3-3.
Prop Ellis Genge (2) and full-back Telusa Veainu scored Leicester's other tries to ensure O'Connor a winning start to his second spell as Tigers' head coach.
Asked whether England No 9 Youngs should be on the plane this summer, O'Connor said: "Definitely. Why would you not pick him?
"He is as good as there is at nine in the world at the moment and the added responsibility of the captaincy worked in his favour.
"He is a world-class player and he delivers most weeks. I am happy he is playing really well for us."
Australian O'Connor, who succeeded Aaron Mauger, helped Leicester win three Premiership titles between 2008 and 2013 and believes they can win another one.
With Bath losing to Worcester, Leicester's fate is in their hands. If they win their last two games - at home to Sale and away to Worcester - they will finish fourth and make the play-offs for the 13th successive season.
He said: "I think we have 25, 30, 40 per cent growth in us, so it will be interesting to see how we go in the next two games. If we look after the ball, four, five, six times better, you are talking about those numbers. We are good enough to beat anyone."
Leicester struggled to break down a stubborn Newcastle defence and led only 11-3 at half-time thanks to a 40th-minute try - awarded by the TMO - by Genge and two penalties from Freddie Burns, who kicked 10 points.
But after Newcastle prop David Wilson was yellow-carded after the Falcons had conceded five penalties in quick succession at the start of the second half, Leicester took control.
O'Connor said: "It was tough. They were competitive and made it hard for us to get any continuity in the first half. The try on half-time and Ben Youngs' tackle on Goneva probably set us up for the win."
Newcastle, who will now struggle to get into the Champions Cup places, scored one penalty through fly-half Joel Hodgson and never looked like ending a barren run at Welford Road.
Their last win at Leicester was in 1997 when their director of rugby, Dean Richards, was in the Tigers team.
Richards complained that the referee did not spot two deliberate knock-ons but admitted his side "did not turn up".
He said: "We looked at the refereeing quartet and we knew they would be influenced by the crowd.
"But if you don't get your set-piece right at Leicester - and it was woeful - you are not going to get parity.
"We never look at seventh place, we look at our performance and we were poor. Last week we were fine. We are inconsistent, which is most frustrating.
"When we are on song we play some really good rugby. The players are disappointed because we did not turn up on the day."
Watch Warren Gatland announce his Lions captain and squad on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports News HQ
