Former England scrum-half Ben Youngs says he had heart surgery this year after collapsing during an open training session with Leicester Tigers.

The 34-year-old, who is England’s most-capped men’s player, has been diagnosed with an irregular, external and abnormally fast, external heartbeat.

Youngs had surgery after the incident at Welford Road but says he expects to be fully fit for the start of the new Premiership season in September.

Speaking on his For The Love Of Rugby podcast, which he co-hosts with Tigers team-mate Dan Cole, Youngs said: “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.

“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’ve basically had a few of these episodes and I’ve had it my whole life. 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.”

Youngs amassed 127 caps before retiring from international duty after the 2023 World Cup.

He added: “The club have been amazing, as they so often are with anything like this. I got checked the first time it happened, [then] a second time it happened again.

“I am on the mend, I am recovering. I’ll be fine for the start of the season.

“There is a 90% success rate, so I should not suffer now. My ticker should be all good and it won’t suddenly kick in and go mental.”