Ben Youngs: Leicester Tigers' England scrum-half signs new contract

Ben Youngs became the youngest player to make his debut for Leicester Tigers when he first featured for the club in 2007 as a 17-year-old

England scrum-half Ben Youngs has signed a new deal with the Premiership club Leicester Tigers.

The 28-year-old, who was named in Eddie Jones' England squad to face Italy in February's Six Nations opener, has made more than 200 appearances and won four Premiership titles with Leicester.

The length of his latest deal has not been disclosed by the club.

"Ben is a world-class player and a central part of the squad," said Tigers head coach Matt O'Connor.

"He has packed a lot of experience at the highest level into his career already and he is still a young man with a lot of rugby left in him."

Youngs, who has previously featured alongside his brother and Tigers team-mate Tom for England and the British and Irish Lions, won his first Premiership title with Leicester as a 17-year-old in 2006-07 after coming through the club's academy.

"He has strong family connections to the club, he came through the academy here, he is first-choice in a successful England setup and we believe he can be a major player for us for many seasons to come," said O'Connor.

Youngs' new deal came shortly after Leicester announced the signing of 23-year-old Argentina prop Facundo Gigena.

Gigena moves to England having previously featured for Super Rugby side Jaguares in his native county, where he also played for Tala.

"We think he'll add a bit of depth to our options and we hope he can become a big part of this place going forward," said O'Connor.