England hooker Tom Youngs has been named as Leicester’s club captain for the English Premiership team’s forthcoming campaign. Youngs, who missed the end of last season following back surgery, takes over from Ed Slater as Tigers skipper.
The 29-year-old has made more than 100 appearances for Leicester and has also won 28 England caps and featured for the British and Irish Lions. “Tom is a Leicester man through and through and has special links with the club, where his father and brother have also played.
He is a world-class player who leads by example,” Leicester rugby director Richard Cockerill told the club’s website. “Tom is supported by a good strong group of leaders within the squad, including Ed Slater, who has done an excellent job as club captain over the last couple of seasons, and experienced players like Mathew Tait, Dan Cole, Tom Croft, Manu Tuilagi, Ben Youngs, Owen Williams and Freddie Burns.”
Leicester open their Premiership season against Gloucester on September 2.

Sharks clinch 14th straight
victory to lead NRL
Cronulla Sharks won their 14th consecutive match to return to the top of Australia’s National Rugby League in Sydney yesterday. The Sharks, who have yet to win the premiership title in their 49 years, downed the Sydney Roosters 32-20 in Sydney.
Ben Barba was one of the Sharks’ stars featuring in three tries, while winger Sosaia Feki scored a brace of tries. Cronulla lead the Melbourne Storm by two points with defending champions North Queensland a further six points away in third spot after 17 competition rounds. The Roosters showed glimpses of form but marred their overall effort with too many handling errors.

Nadolo ruled out of Crusaders’ quarter-final against Lions
Canterbury Crusaders winger Nemani Nadolo has been officially ruled out of his side’s Super Rugby quarter-final against the Lions in Johannesburg due to a hamstring injury.
Nadolo, who is leaving the Crusaders for Montpellier at the end of the season, was not included in Todd Blackadder’s squad named for the trip to South Africa. Nadolo sustained injury in the Crusaders’ 35-15 loss to the Wellington Hurricanes on Saturday.
Scrumhalf Andy Ellis, who was also an injury doubt, has been included in the travelling squad though third-string scrumhalf Leon Fukafuka will travel with the team in case the veteran does not recover from his calf injury. Ellis was a late withdrawal from Saturday’s match after he injured himself while warming up just before kickoff.
Lock Sam Whitelock, who withdrew from the match against the Hurricanes because of illness, will also travel with the team. The Crusaders were unable to travel to South Africa yesterday because of a lack of flights and will instead have to leave today for the game at Ellis Park on Saturday.