England v Fiji: hooker Tom Youngs Yet, for all its significance, Youngs remains surprisingly nonchalant about the day that changed his life. "He [Meyer] told me to go away and have a think about changing position but in my head I had already made the decision and I told him that I wouldn't mind giving that a go," Youngs said. Then it was about going in the gym for a month, lifting a lot of weights, trying to bulk up a bit. I had to change my whole fitness routine and my whole understanding of the game. You've got to be heavier to be carrying the ball around. Youngs did not have long to wait to try out his new role, yet nothing could have prepared him for the physical challenges that lay ahead after Nottingham decided to take him on loan for a couple of seasons. If the aches and pains that follow an early season scrummaging session are familiar sensations to most front-row forwards, Youngs, despite his attempts to bulk up his upper body in preparation, was shocked by the state of his body afterwards. "I remember my first 80 minutes was for Nottingham against Leicester," he added. Their front row was Castro [Martin Castrogiovanni], Mefin Davies and Marcos Ayerza. I remember the Leicester conditioner saying to me after the game that I looked like I really fatigued and had not been running nicely. "I said: "I can hardly hold my neck up, that's why!" I remember being at the back of a ruck to pick the ball up and l tried to lift my neck up to look at the defence and thinking: "Oh my God." I took painkillers for the rest of the week. I was in agony. But it slowly got better and better and I got used to it. The other major challenge was learning how to throw the ball into the line-out, an art he admits has been a struggle to master. Endless hours of practice with the Rugby Football Union's forwards coach, Simon Hardy, however, saw Youngs develop and then fine-tune his technique while his work with RFU sports psychologist Matt Thombs has also been key. Despite a recent wobble against Gloucester, he says he will have no fears when he lines up his first throw in front of 82,000 supporters at Twickenham on Saturday, after just nine starts as hooker for Leicester. "I used to be a little bit like a headless chicken; if I threw a "not straight" I would run into a ruck from the side and give away a penalty," added Youngs, speaking at the launch of O2 Inside Line, the weekly behind-the-scenes show from inside the England camp. I didn't really know to control those emotions but Matt has helped me a lot - he has set me goals, put some things on a piece of paper to look at every day. Everyone misses a line-out, everyone misses a kick. You don't do it on purpose or intentionally, it just happens and you can't do anything about it there and then. It has happened, move on. The hard work has paid off. After just nine starts for Leicester, Youngs is now determined to seize the opportunity presented to him after injuries to Northampton's Dylan Hartley, Bath's Rob Webber and Harlequins" Joe Gray. "It's not every day you get to play at Twickenham for your country and it's something I've dreamed about for a long time," Youngs added. I intend to leave everything on the pitch. No doubt Meyer will be watching on with interest. For more information visit www.O2InsideLine.com