by If England want to beat the All Blacks on Saturday, they will have to be without their most in-form player.
Jack Willis has been in top form for Toulouse this season, delivering one superlative performance after another. “Today was a Jack Willis masterclass,” admitted Pau manager Sébastien Piqueronies after the England winger helped his side to a 22-14 win last week. Toulouse defensive coach Laurent Thuéry said Willis “set the tone for the win”. “What I liked tonight,” Thuéry added, “was that he was dominant in the duel.”
Dominant in tackling, outstanding in his ball handling and, perhaps most significantly, a threat on the break where Willis caused several turnovers. “You see him every time we meet,” said Toulouse winger Matthis Lebel. “When he delivers a performance like that, he really brings a lot to the team.”
How important Willis is to the European champions was shown earlier this month when he missed a few games with a thigh injury: Toulouse lost at home to Bordeaux – their first home defeat in two and a half years – and away at Castres.
Willis appeared at the pre-match press conference before the trip to Pau and answered questions in fluent French, a skill he quickly mastered, unlike many anglophone players who struggle to master one even after two or three seasons in the top 14 Phrase to compose rugby in French.
One of the questions for Willis concerned his future. Has he decided where he will play rugby in the coming seasons? He laughed and acknowledged that he had made a decision, but was unable to elaborate at the time.
Provided his form continues next year, Willis will be selected for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia and there is a good chance he will make the Test squad.
However, the media did this for him when it was announced that he had signed a contract extension that will keep him at Toulouse until June 2029. Willis will then have reached the age of 33, the age at which most strikers consider extending their careers.
In other words, Willis’ 14th and final cap would be his appearance against Chile at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, unless the RFU changed its mind on its rule barring foreign players from international selection.
Provided his form continues next year, Willis will be selected for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia and there is a good chance he will make the Test squad. Willis is capable of playing in the back row but also has the winning temperament, having won two Top 14 titles and one Champions Cup title in the two years he played at Toulouse. In each of these three finals, Willis was outstanding. Big events overwhelm some players, but not Willis, who thrives on pressure.
Lawrence Dallaglio and Clive Woodward are among those who have criticized the RFU’s stance this year in not selecting overseas-based players. In an article in the Daily Mail this month, Woodward wrote: “Every England manager needs to work in a no-excuses environment. It’s just crazy that their hands are tied behind their backs because they didn’t pick foreign players.”
The World Cup-winning England coach named four players who he said would “add depth and value to England’s vision” – Owen Farrell, Jack Willis, Henry Arundell and Kyle Sinckler.
However, there is a crucial difference between Sinckler and Farrell and Willis and Arundell. The former couple are in their thirties and are at the end of a long and illustrious international career; In addition, they joined Toulon and Racing respectively, mainly for financial reasons. They could have extended their time at Saracens (Farrell) and Bristol (Sinckler) but decided to seek a new challenge. As Sinckler recently explained, “Sometimes it’s hard to keep the flame alive when you’re doing the same thing every day.” It becomes more of a job than a passion. That’s why I felt like going to Toulon would rekindle my passion.”
Playing in the Top 14 every week, where every game is huge and you have to win, that’s where you learn. You learn to fail and you learn to be better.
Neither Willis nor Arundell had the luxury of weighing their options over several months. Arundell, who turns 22 next week, joined the London Irish Academy at the age of 14 and made his first-team debut in November 2021. At the end of the 2022 season, he signed what London Irish described as a new “long-term” contract. Contract. It turned out to be short-term. At the end of the following season London Irish went into administration and the players had to accept all offers.
For Arundell it was a one-year contract submitted by Racing 92, which was then extended for a further two years. “Playing in the big games, playing in the Top 14 every week where every game is huge and you have to win, that’s where you learn,” Arundell said earlier this year. “You learn to fail and you learn to do better.”
Willis became a victim of Wasps’ financial crisis in November 2022, an experience that affected him deeply. “It was devastating what happened at Wasps,” he said in 2023. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. “That will be a scar I’ll keep forever.”
When I spoke to Willis last year Rugby passHe said he would have liked to have spent his entire career at Wasps, but it wasn’t to be. One day he was a member of one of England’s most famous rugby clubs and the next day he was unemployed. Willis was luckier than some; Within a month he had signed a six-month contract with Toulouse. This was extended for another three years in 2023 and he has now committed to the club until 2029.
“Toulouse reaffirmed my faith in rugby,” said Willis Rugby pass last year. “What I love about Toulouse is the way they look after the boys after rugby.” There are former players who work in the office or with the coaches. That’s the sign that a real club is looking out for you.”
Clearly Willis is indebted to Toulouse, just as Arundell is to Racing. That’s why they are willing to sacrifice their international careers out of loyalty to clubs that have served them well in a time of crisis.
The RFU should recognize this difference between players like Willis and Arundell, who have been put in a difficult position by the mismanagement of their clubs, and players like Farrell, Sinckler, Lewis Ludlum and Billy Vunipola.
Unlike Willis, Blair Kinghorn will play for his country next month because Scotland selects their best players regardless of where they live.
Woodward is right; The RFU’s intransigence on the issue of France-based players is “just crazy”. Willis’ game has improved tremendously since joining Toulouse as he plays with some of the best in the business: Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, Julien Marchand and Francois Cros.
The same goes for Blair Kinghorn, the versatile Scottish three-quarter player who arrived at Toulouse after last year’s World Cup and won the Champions Cup six months later. “People always want to play the best rugby they can,” he said after beating Leinster in the final. “My experience here is truly first class.”
Unlike Willis, Kinghorn will play for his country in next month’s internationals because Scotland selects its best players regardless of where they live.
