Retired England great Ben Youngs’ Wallabies sled backfired dramatically ahead of Australia’s drought-breaking 42-37 win over England at Twickenham.
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Speaking on a podcast about the British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia next year, Youngs smugly said: “Australia, don’t waste my time.”
England’s all-time appearances record holder with 127 appearances suggested the Lions should tour South Africa in 2025 instead, and the Wallabies playing group clearly used his comments to fuel themselves.
After the game, as the Australian and England players applauded each other for their efforts, Mike picked up Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and cheekily asked: “What’s his name?” Where is Ben Youngs?”
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Backrower Fraser McReight also had fun throwing barbs the Wallaby way.
He said the Australian camp had not been immune to “a lot of negativity recently, from English rugby to Australian rugby” and admitted it had been “brilliant” to force the likes of Youngs to eat a slice of humble pie.
“It’s always good to silence the critics, isn’t it?” he said after the game.
“Everyone did a great job tonight.
“No one was disappointed or let any of their teammates down. We were able to go out and accomplish something we hadn’t been able to do in almost 10 years. It was very special to be a part of it.”
The Wallabies are next scheduled to play Wales in Cardiff in the early morning on Monday 18 November, before facing Scotland and Ireland respectively in the remaining matches of their spring tour.
