Tom Youngs’ strengths outweigh his weaknesses, says George Chuter

Former England hooker George Chuter has launched a staunch defence of Tom Youngs in the wake of the criticism directed towards his Leicester team-mate.
An erratic display in the set-piece during the opening Test of the autumn internationals against Australia saw Youngs come under fire.
Of his six throws against the Wallabies, three were taken cleanly, two were overthrown and one was given not straight by referee George Clancy. At scrum-time, too, he missed one strike of the ball.
England noticeably improved once Dylan Hartley came on as a replacement, but Chuter, 37, says Youngs’ strengths far outweigh any perceived weaknesses.
As the only player to have played in all 17 seasons of the Premiership, it is fair to say Chuter knows a thing or two about the role of hooker.
He said: “It seems harsh to blame Tom for any issues at the lineout. It was almost inevitable that could happen  with two second rows, in Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury, who weren’t used to calling lineouts at international level and aren’t really in the same mould as Geoff Parling.
“Tom is very familiar with Geoff, having worked together with the Lions, England and Leicester. When you take that connection away it takes time to build up a new one.
“He may have thrown the ball into the right place and the jumper simply wasn’t where he should have been.
“The lineout is such a technical area, but he’s thrown well for us, for England and for the Lions.
“It’s not as if it is a weakness because there are other players who equally hit and miss with their throwing.”
Chuter added: “In my eyes he’s head and shoulders above every other hooker in the world in terms of his play in the loose. He offers so much in his carrying, his clearing out and his tackling, and people tend to gloss over his ability in the scrummage where his technique could perhaps be a bit more polished but his brute force compensates for that.”
Chuter believes Youngs’ broad shoulders are a key asset in both a physical and mental capacity. He said: “He’s always been a resilient bloke; he’s not the sort to let things bother him. Selective amnesia is incredibly important as a hooker, and, I’m sure goal kickers say the same.
“If you miss a lineout throw or a kick at goal, you don’t go to the next one thinking, ‘oh blast, I’ve got to get this one right because he last one went wrong’. You forget about it and move on.
“Tom doesn’t dwell on his mistakes and is still the same bloke as he was before (international rugby), which says a lot about his good character and temperament.”
Chuter’s selective amnesia does not stretch to his debut, a long, long time ago. Despite all the years of head banging in the front row, the rock music fan remembers his Premiership debut for Saracens against Sale in August 1997.
“I came on with about 20 minutes to go, Steve Diamond put my head up my arse in the first scrum, I scored a try from a driving maul that wasn’t given and we ended up winning a close match.”
With Youngs absent and the LV= Cup coming into play Chuter hopes to get more game time – and more barbs from opposition fans – over the next fortnight even if the cross-border competition is normally championed as a vehicle for up-and-coming stars.
He said: “I’ll be putting the kibosh on that description, that’s for sure! In my case it’s more like a burial ground for old dinosaurs.
“I’m always reminded I’m knocking on. But what was an eye-opener was seeing Harry Thacker, a hooker at Leicester, was born in 1996 – the year I turned professional!”
JON NEWCOMBE