Tigers centre Tom Youngs was a member of the England squad that reached the semi-finals of the Emirates Airline London Sevens at Twickenham over the Bank Holiday weekend.

England beat World Series champions New Zealand on their way to the last four but were then beaten 14-12 by Samoa.

Coach Ben Ryan said: “I think we took a huge step forward this weekend. This was the first time in five years that England have beaten New Zealand in international sevens. I had hoped that the confidence gained from that win would have been the springboard for a semi-final win, but it was not to be.”

England had come from 12-0 down to beat New Zealand 17-12 in the quarter-finals.

Youngs started a 29-7 win over Spain in the pool stages, where he came up against Tigers colleague Pablo Feijoo, scorer of the Spaniards’ try.

The pool stages also featured a 33-5 victory over France and a 22-7 defeat by eventual pool winners South Africa.