Tom Youngs chats with LTTV ahead of his return to the paddock on Friday night against Sale at Welford Road, discusses the disappointment at recent results and the lessons learned by the squad's younger members in defeat, as well as his own memories of tough time early on in his career and shares his thoughts ahead of England's international against the All Blacks at Twickenham.
Tom Youngs is raring to go after a stint on the sidelines for the Tigers club captain, who last played in the European away game against Ulster almost a month ago in Belfast.
A forced break with "shingles" saw the hooker miss the win over Scarlets in Round 2 of this season's Heineken Champions Cup, followed by a rest during the opening fortnight of the Premiership Rugby Cup competition, but Youngs will lead the side out again in Round 3 of the domestic competition with a handful of other returning senior players against the Sharks.
"It's nice to get a couple of weeks down ... got a bit of rest and R&R in, but ready to go again," said Youngs.
Youngs watched on at Welford Road as Tigers were outclassed by a more experienced Worcester outfit last weekend, but says the lessons learned from that are a positive in the progression of Leicester's next generation - which the England and British Lions representative remembers all too well from his own journey.
"We were disappointed with what happened last weekend," he said.
"The young guys have learned some good lessons, which is all part of their development ... hopefully they're here for a long time to take the club in to the future.
"I learned some real lessons as I came through ... you've got to go away and pick the brains of other people to learn how you can get better."
There's no man who accepts winning as the only outcome in each appearance he makes for Tigers than Youngs and, while he will be out to do just that on Friday night against Sale, the Leicester skipper does recognise the need for a "run out" ahead of the return of the Gallagher Premiership next weekend in a huge clash away to Gloucester.
"I've had three weeks off, so it's important for me to get a good run out going in to Gloucester which will be a big game," Youngs said.
Watch the full interview with Tom Youngs below on LTTV.
