England recorded their sixth successive defeat this evening as they went down 23-12 to South Africa in Bloemfontein. Losing the series in the process, it was a case of déjà vu Eddie Jones' men as they once again sacrificed a seemingly comfortable leading position.
Not quite as disastrous as last weekend's 21-point turnaround, England had rushed out to a 12-0 lead before being pegged back by the Springboks.
With Eddie Jones and his team coming under increasing pressure as the defeats continue to mount up, Ben Youngs, England's starting scrum-half, demonstrated the strain clearly being felt within the international camp.
Speaking to Sky Sports in the wake of their latest defeat, Youngs tersely answered one question before walking away in a manner that Clive Woodward in studio described as "astounding to see." Concluding that England weren't going to "make many friends" behaving in such a manner, Woodward suggested that Jones needed to act immediately.
World Cup winner Will Greenwood was decidedly less generous in his response to Youngs' insubordinate response:
It's very sad to see that, it's not like Ben at all. He was just totally disrespectful of the Gail [interviewer] who is asking a pretty simple question about what had happened what went wrong.
Players must remember at the end of it, it's these big test matches that you can be hugely disappointed about, but you're representing your country and there are children and families at home watching, and, if you get beaten, you have to turn up, take the flak, and you get back out on the park and try to fix those problems internally.
It's a shame to see that.
The wider response to Youngs' behaviour has been equally vociferous.
Disgusting behaviour from Ben Youngs, who I have a huge amount of time for, he is a good bloke normally but disrespecting a question like that was out of order.
— Neil Fissler (@neilfissler) June 16, 2018
That was very unlike Ben Youngs. Knowing the person he is I’m sure he’ll come to regret that.
— Sonja McLaughlan (@Sonjamclaughlan) June 16, 2018
Pathetic interview from Ben Youngs on @SkySportsRugby just now. He’s better than that and will regret it. Symptomatic of England losing the plot.
— Sam Peters (@PlantedSam) June 16, 2018
“Siege mentality” - @WillGreenwood
Ben Youngs just walked away from the interview after 10 seconds.
Have been told by sources down in South Africa that tensions are very high, that was very poor though. Ben Youngs should be dropped.— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) June 16, 2018
Yikes. That Ben Youngs “interview” is not a good omen for England’s recovery prospects
— Ronan Murphy (@Ro_Murph) June 16, 2018
Verifying what many of those commenting suspected, Youngs was indeed disappointed with himself; apologising across Twitter shortly thereafter, and speaking to Sky Sports a second time.
Just wanted to say sorry I walked off during my interview with Sky Sports. Obviously was very emotional and disappointed with result. Good to chat to Gail second time round just now. We go again in Cape Town. Thank you everyone 🌹
— Ben Youngs (@benyoungs09) June 16, 2018
You can watch Youngs' first brief interview below.
