Jack Willis is hopeful he can continue to represent England after the World Cup as the openside flanker closes in on a new contract with Toulouse in the Top 14.
Willis was one of England’s standout players during the Six Nations, missing the first match against Scotland because of his Toulouse commitments before starting the four subsequent games of Steve Borthwick’s first campaign as the country’s head coach.
The 26-year-old, whose Toulouse deal expires at the end of the season, required special dispensation to represent England because Rugby Football Union regulations dictate players based abroad are not eligible for selection. The RFU has made a special case for players forced to move by the collapse of Wasps and Worcester, up until and including the World Cup, after which those based abroad will again become ineligible as things stand.
With Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marchant, Sam Simmonds, David Ribbans and Jack Nowell all moving to clubs in France next season, however, Borthwick has said he wants licence to pick “the best players” with the RFU and Premiership Rugby engaged in talks over restructuring English rugby as part of the next Professional Game Agreement.
“Steve Borthwick coming out and supporting that shows there are lots of people behind the scenes working to try to find the right solution for English rugby moving forwards,” Willis told the Evening Standard Rugby Podcast.
“There are lots of avenues to explore. The positive thing for me is that it seems that hopefully that’s on the table, and at least being discussed. We’ll see. Steve’s been fantastic with me throughout this Six Nations on many levels – his support and his work with Toulouse. Toulouse have been brilliant as well and showed how smooth that process can be.
“There have been lots of conversations back and forth about what would be best for me being involved with England and how can we help with Toulouse if they needed me for the weekend.”
