Growing up in Aylsham, Norfolk, Ben Youngs is rugby royalty. Both his dad, Nick, and brother Tom played for Leicester and England and Ben has spent all his adult life in top flight rugby: in nineteen seasons with Leicester Tigers he’s been a Premiership champion five times, he’s played twice for the British and Irish Lions and, with 127 appearances for his country, he’s the most capped England player. 

Born to a farming family, he remembers how his grandfather created a pitch in one of the fields for the two young boys, and built rugby posts out of old irrigation pipes. Ben went to school at Gresham's in Holt where his talent was encouraged, leading both him and brother Tom first to move to the North Walsham team and then to be spotted by the Leicester scouts.

The game has given Ben a great deal, and he's loved the experiences he's had, he says, but he's ready for the next stage in his life where he'll be the performance coach at Gresham's, continuing his podcast 'For the Love of Rugby’ with Dan Cole, and promoting this memoir.

He's told his story to writer Neil Squires, and the book covers all the highs and lows of the game as well as the personal tragedies Ben experienced off the pitch, losing two family members to terminal illnesses within a year.

It's a very engaging read. There are the details of the matches but there are also plenty of stories to be told about team tactics, the friendships, the leadership battles, the shenanigans away from the pitch, and the personal challenges when life can't just be seen as winning and losing.

I'm always intrigued by the life of a professional sportsperson. Ben says it's like being in the military with everything mapped out for you - what to eat, what to wear, how and when to exercise, where to be and when. How do you step into the ordinary day-to-day when that has been your norm for all your adult life?

I thoroughly enjoyed the book.