England flanker Jack Willis has been ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup to continue his streak of injury misfortune.
The back-rower featured in three of England’s warm-up fixtures ahead of the tournament, coming off the bench against Wales and Ireland and starting against Fiji at Twickenham, before making his World Cup debut against Chile.
In that game, Willis played the full 80 minutes and scored a try in a 71-0 win but suffered a neck injury that has now ruled him out of the remainder of the competition, meaning he will be sent home from France.
In February 2021, having recently made his England debut, Willis came off the bench during a Six Nations match against Italy at Twickenham and suffered a catastrophic knee injury that ultimately ruled him out for more than a year.
That was his second serious knee injury after tearing an ACL playing for Wasps in the 2018 Premiership semi-final but the back-rower battled his way back from both, only to see his World Cup dreams dashed by a neck issue.
Speaking at a press conference after naming his team to face Samoa in Lille on Saturday, head coach Steve Borthwick said: “Jack unfortunately suffered an injury in the Test match against Chile. He recovered and rehabbed but unfortunately at this stage he’s unable to be fit. What this means is that Jack has left the squad.
“Jack has been an important member of this team. We’re really disappointed for him and disappointed that he won’t feature in the rest of this World Cup, but we anticipate he will be back in the field very soon.”
This likely means the end of the 26-year-old’s England career for the time being as he had special dispensation to play for his country after joining Toulouse following Wasps going into administration last season but by signing a new contract with the French club, he has rendered himself ineligible for selection due to RFU rules about players playing outside of England.
