And he was clearly enjoying being back as he went over in the second half to help the Tigers roar back from an 8-6 half-time deficit to beat Sale 20-8 at Salford City Stadium.

But despite his scoring return Youngs, who featured in all five of England’s RBS 6 Nations games earlier this year, still admitted to feeling rusty after spending some time on the sidelines. 

“It was really nice to be back, it was a great win and a real team effort,” Youngs said.

“It was all about coming here and winning and obviously it has been a bit frustrating sitting and watching the start of the season but it was nice to be back out there with everyone.

“We always know it is tough coming to Sale and this is their new ground and we knew they hadn’t won yet and were going to target this game.

“So it was about stopping them as much as we can and I thought we did that really well. 

“For me it is just about being back playing. It was my first game back, there is still quite a lot of rust but it was just nice to be back out there with the lads.”