Tom Youngs: 'No dry eye' in Leicester Tigers dressing room as hooker bids farewell

Former Leicester captain Tom Youngs played 215 games for the Tigers and won 28 England caps

Leicester Tigers hooker Tom Youngs says there was not a "dry eye" in the dressing room as he addressed the team before leading them out for the last time at Welford Road.

The former England player announced his retirement in April.

Youngs also said goodbye to the club's fans at their home ground on Saturday.

"I just talked about how I'd love to do one more tackle for them and one more carry for them but I can't," Youngs said of his talk with team-mates.

"I talked about Tiff (Youngs' wife) a little bit. I talked about life, and how when you're in the moment, in that changing room, you don't realise how good it is and how lucky you are sometimes.

"Ultimately, you don't realise how cruel life can be sometimes, so you have to enjoy those moments. There wasn't really a dry eye in the changing room. It was lovely, and those things will sit with me for a long time."

Youngs carried his daughter Maisie out before Tigers' 56-26 win over Bristol Bears. The victory added to Leicester's stellar Premiership season as they sit at the top of the table with 86 points and have secured a semi-final place.

And when asked if he feels his retirement is bittersweet due to Tiger's good run this campaign, he said: "I only wanted to help and make sure we got better. If I did a percentage of that I was happy. Just because you're contracted for another year doesn't mean you're going to finish the season off anyway.

"I'm now a full-on fan and I love watching the boys play. I love seeing the pride back in a Leicester shirt. It fills me with a lot of joy and happiness."