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Former England scrum-half Ben Youngs says he had heart surgery this year after collapsing during an open training session with Leicester Tigers.<\/b><\/p>\n
The 34-year-old, who is England’s most-capped men’s player, has been diagnosed with an irregular, external<\/span><\/a> and abnormally fast, external<\/span><\/a> heartbeat.<\/p>\n Youngs had surgery after the incident at Welford Road but says he expects to be fully fit for the start of the new Premiership season in September.<\/p>\n Speaking on his For The Love Of Rugby podcast, which he co-hosts with Tigers team-mate Dan Cole, Youngs said: “You know when we joked around on the pod quite a while back, and we had this open training session at Leicester, and I said I was doing fitness, and basically I collapsed. <\/p>\n “Well, not collapsed, but I had to stop and lay down as my heart was pounding away, and the rain was hitting me in the face, and I sort of rolled my head to the side and looked at all these admiring fans – 30 of them – that were all packed out in the main stand at Leicester.<\/p>\n “And I thought: ‘This is it, this is how I’m gonna go’.<\/p>\n “I’ve basically had a few of these episodes and I’ve had it my whole life. It can just kind of spontaneously happen at any stage of your life or career. And so I have had it my whole life, unknown to me.”<\/p>\n Youngs amassed 127 caps before retiring from international duty after the 2023 World Cup.<\/p>\n He added: “The club have been amazing, as they so often are with anything like this. I got checked the first time it happened, [then] a second time it happened again.<\/p>\n “I am on the mend, I am recovering. I’ll be fine for the start of the season.<\/p>\n “There is a 90% success rate, so I should not suffer now. My ticker should be all good and it won’t suddenly kick in and go mental.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n