Rugby World Cup 2019: Ben Youngs and Dan Cole set to equal Jonny Wilkinson landmark that shows gulf to USA
Leicester Tigers duo will win their 91st caps against the United States on Thursday to join the England great as the third-most capped players in the nation’s history
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The United States team selected by Gary Gold on Monday holds just 333 caps of experience across the starting XV. In comparison, England will have two players who in winning their 91st cap will jointly become the third-most capped male players to pull alongside Jonny Wilkinson, providing more than half of what the USA can offer.
Should they be selected, Ben Youngs and Dan Cole will join Wilkinson on the all-time England appearances list, trailing all-time record holder Jason Leonard’s tally of 114 and Dylan Hartley on 97 – though they all trail Rochelle Clark’s mark of 137 for England Women.
Such is the gulf in experience between England and the USA, the starting XV that beat Tonga on Sunday has more than double the Eagles’ tally with 686.
Now both in their third World Cup campaigns – the only surviving members of the 2011 campaign along with Courtney Lawes – Youngs and Cole should both be involved in some way in Thursday’s team, given there are only two scrum-halves and two tighthead props in the entire squad – and though it will be a special moment for the former to draw alongside a legend of the game, Youngs will not be paying it too much attention.
“I didn't know that,” admitted Youngs. “I'm kind of in this World Cup bubble at the moment and whilst those accolades are nice, I had no idea.
“Maybe it is something I will sit down and think about after the World Cup and think it's pretty nice. I remember making my first start for England and Jonny was involved and playing in Australia.
“He's an icon of the game and to get this accolade is pretty cool. It's gone quick and I remember when I first started - some of the players like Simon Shaw told me to enjoy it because it would go so fast. It does go quick, but it has been enjoyable ride at times and it is good.”
That experienced across the squad helped them to remain composed enough to secure a bonus-point win on Sunday when at one stage it looked like they would miss out on a maximum haul. The same will be expected in Kobe on Thursday, even though the USA are two places higher in the world rankings than Tonga, such are the lofty heights that England are aiming for.
The USA do have a different type of experience though: an English one. Five of their starting line-up ply their trade in the Premiership, while captain Blaine Scully spent two years with Leicester Tigers before the last World Cup alongside both Youngs and Cole.
But England aren’t lacking in knowledge when it comes to the Eagles, either. Current defence coach John Mitchell was the man who steered them to World Cup qualification before leaving the team in the hands of Gary Gold, the former Worcester director of rugby.
"Mitch made an indelible mark on USA rugby,” Gold said after naming his team on Monday. “Firstly, the reason we’re here is because of Mitch. He led that team over two years ago to World Cup qualification, so nice and early with lots of time to prepare. From day one, we’ve been working towards this thanks to John.
"He brought a lot of structure, he brought a lot of intellect, he brought a great work ethic. For me, other than the fact that he’s a friend of mine and an old acquaintance on and off the rugby field, it’s been a privilege to take over from a guy like him because you know that a lot of the ethos and the principles within this team are thanks to him."
Gold had plenty to say on what he wants his own team to do. "We have a style of play and areas of strengths that we’re pretty confident we’re quite good at and I think we need to impose that. If we go away from that and try to play a style of play we’re not accustomed to, or we allow England to dictate the terms of the game, then it’s going to be a tough evening for us."
But he would not allow himself to be drawn into a verbal back-and-forth with Eddie Jones following his claim that the USA would be “like 15 Donald Trumps out there”.
"I’ve absolutely no idea what he means by that,” responded Gold. “We’re just a team that’s really got to focus on our own processes at the moment. We’ve got to worry about what we do when we get onto the rugby field.
"At this stage, with all due respect, we’re not a good enough rugby team to be making comments or answers to questions like that. I don’t know what it means."
Jones will name his squad on Tuesday morning, where he is expected to make a number of changes to the side even though a fair few of Sunday’s team will be required to double up for their second game inside four days.
United States: Will Hooley; Blaine Scully, Marcel Brache, Paul Lasike, Martin Iosefo; AJ MacGinty, Shaun Davies; David Ainuu, Joe Taufete’e, Titi Lamositele; Ben Landry, Nick Civetta; Tony Lamborn, John Quill, Cam Dolan.
Replacements: Dylan Fawsitt, Olive Kilifi, Paul Mullen, Greg Peterson, Hanco Germishuys, Ruben de Haas, Bryce Campbell, Mike Te’o.
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