Former England halfback Ben Youngs needed open heart surgery after collapsing in training

Ben Youngs at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. Photo / Photosport

England’s most-capped player Ben Youngs has revealed he underwent heart surgery after collapsing during an open training session.

The Leicester halfback says he is “on the mend” and hopes to be fit for the new English club season, which begins in mid-September.

The 34-year-old had been diagnosed with arrhythmia and supraventricular tachycardia, which is a type of irregular heartbeat that causes the heart’s upper chamber to beat fast or erratically.

He had a two-hour operation in Birmingham after the episode, which occurred while he was training with Leicester earlier this year.

“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,” Youngs said on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast he co-hosts with Tigers and ex-England colleague Dan Cole.

“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.

“And I thought: ‘This is it, this is how I’m gonna go’.

“I basically had a few of these episodes and I’ve had it my whole life. And 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.”

Youngs, who earned 127 caps before retiring from test rugby after the 2023 World Cup, added: “I am on the mend, I am recovering. I’ll be fine for the start of the season.

“There is a 90 per cent success rate, so I should not suffer now. My ticker should be all good and it won’t suddenly kick in and go mental.”