jhonsonlara: Rugby Union: Youngs calls on England heroes

ABOVE: Scrum-half Ben Youngs says England are the fittest

England have not lost to France at ?Twickenham since 2007

17th February 2013

By Gary Fitzgerald

ENGLAND must turn themselves into world rugby?s Supermen ? if they want to dominate again.

That?s the claim from scrum-half Ben Youngs, who insists he and his team-mates simply have to become the ?fittest team? on the Union planet.

Leicester star Youngs also admits that ?facing France on Saturday scares him, even though England have smashed the Scots and Irish already in this Six Nations and are on course for Grand Slam glory.

Coaches Stuart Lancaster, Andy ?Farrell and Graham Rowntree are hell-bent on an ultra-strict work ethic and Youngs insists England?s players have never been in better shape. But he knows they can be even fitter.

He said: ?We?re certainly fitter than we were a year ago. The South Africa tour was a wake-up call in a sense, in terms of being able to generate intensity.

?If we want to play at the intensity we ?produced against New Zealand and Scotland, we have to have the levels of fitness to deliver in the last minutes as well as the first.

?We need to play a high-tempo game when conditions permit and to do that you have to be very fit.

?Our conditioning is first-class in this set-up. There?s also a peer pressure that ?ensures you never fall off the radar.

?We have to take responsibility for our own levels while keeping that peer pressure on colleagues to ensure nobody falls behind.

?Stuart told us 12 months ago that if we want to play this style as the norm, then we have to become the fittest Test squad in the world.?

England have not lost to France at ?Twickenham since 2007 with the two ?countries sharing the spoils in their four ?recent meetings.

But Leicester ace Youngs knows too well just how unpredictable the French can be ? and that despite losing their opening two games, they will be dangerous opponents.

He said: ?The bottom line for me is that playing France is scary. When you face their players in Heineken Cup ties, you learn fast that French players can make you look ?foolish if you take your eye off the ball.

?What can we expect? I?m not sure, and that?s why I use the word scary. What I do know is they will try to win the forward ?battle and then try to throw the ball around.

?But our forwards have been outstanding in the opening two games, especially in ?horrendous conditions in Dublin. So I think it?s going to be a very interesting contest ?between the two packs.?