Tom Youngs brought tears to the eyes of his old Leicester team as he fired them up for their end of season double bid with an emotional sign-off.
The former England and Lions hooker retired with immediate effect a week ago to support his wife Tiffany who is battling serious illness.
But he was persuaded to return to Welford Road one last time on Saturday to give the pre-match team talk and lead Tigers out.
Yesterday he revealed the emotionally-charged words he delivered to a group that included brother Ben and his England team mates Ellis Genge, George Ford and Freddie Steward.
Youngs said: “I talked about how I’d love to do one more tackle for them and one more carry for them, but I can’t.
“I talked about Tiff 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.
“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," he admitted. "It was lovely, and those things will sit with me for a long time.”
Chris Ashton took the message to heart by going straight out onto the pitch and bagging a hat-trick to break the all-time Premiership try record.
Afterwards he thanked Youngs for letting him "be a part of his special day" and told him he had “never been in such an emotional speech before a game”.
The focus now turns to Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final at home to Leinster and Youngs believes Ellis Genge, who succeeded him as club captain, can bring glory to Leicester before the season is out.
“Captaincy sometimes makes someone,” said Youngs. “I think people probably saw Gengey as a left field choice but he’s been class in getting the boys together.
“They are now a tough side, a resilient bunch who have belief ingrained in them. They are well-equipped to go all the way.”
Genge it was who suggested Youngs make that farewell speech and lead the team out with eight-year old daughter Maisie.
“I am very grateful to him for that one last opportunity,” said Tom. “I never thought I’d get to do anything like that again. To do it one last time was fantastic.”
Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney is being treated for a pulmonary embolism after being admitted to hospital on Friday.
The RFU say they expect him to make a full recovery and to return to work.
