Ben Youngs underwent heart surgery after collapse in training session

Former England scrum-half Ben Youngs has revealed that he underwent heart surgery earlier this year after he collapsed during an open training session.

The 34-year-old was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and had a two-hour operation at a hospital in Birmingham.

Youngs won 127 Test caps for England but announced his retirement from international rugby at the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

"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," said Youngs on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast.

"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."

Nevertheless, Youngs is expected to be fit for the upcoming Premiership season.

"I am on the mend, I am recovering. I'll be fine for the start of the season," he added 

"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."