Arriving from Wasps in 2022, Jack Willis has been hitting the screen for two seasons within the Toulouse institution, after having experienced difficult periods during his career.
His former club went bankrupt
Jack Willis arrived in France two years ago, in total anonymity, after the bankruptcy of the Wasps club. The historic institution in the London suburbs had to close its doors in 2022, after being placed in compulsory liquidation, a symbol of the economic crisis which has hit English rugby for several years. All the players on the squad were suddenly dismissed. “We expected the club to go into receivership, but not that we would all lose our work. There was no longer a sound in the room, everyone was in shock. Willis confided to AFP a few days after the news. It was therefore very quickly necessary to find a way out. And what a way out for the English third row, recruited by Stade Toulousain at the end of November 2022. Two years later, the former English championship player can measure the progress he has made. He has built an incredible reputation and is today a core man in Ugo Mola's squad.
His brother is also a professional
They make their parents proud. Because yes, Jack is not the only Willis to have made rugby his profession. His little brother Tom, 25, also played for Wasps before the club went bankrupt. If the eldest landed in Toulouse, the younger left his luggage not far from there, in Bordeaux! After playing together in England, the two men found themselves competitors in the Top 14. They even faced each other once, at the Toulouse Stadium in May 2023, during a match won by the Rouge et Noir. Since then, Jack has flourished in the Pink City, while Tom has returned to play in the country, in the Saracens club, which after several difficult years is back on the front of the European scene. In summary, everything is going well for the Willis family.
He overcame serious injuries
This is the dark part of the story. If Jack Willis has been shining for more than a year with Stade Toulousain, everything has not always been all rosy physically in the career of the English third row. On several occasions, in 2018 and then in 2021, he was affected by serious ligament injuries which slowed him down. He also confided in Timeswith whom he recounted his rehabilitation period (which lasted 53 weeks) after being seriously injured in the knee against Italy three years ago. “There were times when I thought I wouldn’t get over it,” he explained. But each time, he got away with it. Proof of the extraordinary strength of character of a player who never gives up. Today, these difficult periods seem to be behind him and the Englishman is playing at his best level. And hopefully it lasts.
He is world champion with England
If he won his first professional title with Stade Toulousain in 2023, Jack Willis already had a trophy in his career. That of under-twenty world champion with the XV de la Rose, in 2016. One of the rare positive memories of his career with his national team. Yet one of the best players in English rugby at the moment, the Toulouse player has only 14 national selections since 2020 (including one during the 2023 World Cup). And his case is causing a lot of talk in the country, with supporters and journalists criticizing the rule of ineligibility for players playing abroad. Because yes, the 27-year-old player made his choice by extending his contract to Toulouse until 2029. And given the place he has today with the Rouge et Noir, we can understand it.
He made 29 tackles in the European Cup final
Is there a more telling number than this? During the last Champions Cup final won by Stade Toulousain against Leinster last May, the England international tackled 29 times. A stunning defensive statistic, especially at this stage of the competition, proof of constant activity. Willis exploded last season with the Haut-Garonnais club, reaching a first peak in his career. A season which this year even allowed him to wear the captain's armband on several occasions in the absence of Antoine Dupont.
