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Some fans feel Jack Willis' supremacy at the Premiership breakdown has him primed for England call
By Josh Raisey
Eddie Jones’ job to whittle down all his England back row options to five or six players next month is not an enviable puzzle, all the more so now that uncapped Jack Willis is putting his hand up for inclusion with his form at Wasps.
It's no exaggeration to say that the Australian could field four completely different trios at the back of the scrum, all of which would be Test standard - such is the level of competition across the Gallagher Premiership at the moment.
One player, however, who seems to be leading the charge for his first Test cap ahead of an extraordinarily competitive field is Willis.
In an inspired season so far, which has seen Wasps steadily climb up the table, the performance of the 23-year-old Willis against Bath on Monday put him in a position whereby many feel it is almost impossible for Jones not to pick him for the upcoming internationals in October, November and December.
Not only that, but there is also talk on social media of the flanker even making the British and Irish Lions squad in 2021.
As stated, Willis faces stern competition in what is now England’s most abundant area of choice on the field. Jones and his selection team are ultimately going to disappoint a number of worthy players in the coming weeks by overlooking them.
Although there is plenty of hysteria over the Wasps player's performance at The Rec, both Curry twins at Sale Sharks are equally in insatiable form as are those in the No8 shirt as well.
What will perhaps please Jones the most is that so many players bring different qualities, and it is currently Willis’ supremacy at the breakdown that nearly leaves him with rival amongst his compatriots.
If he were to be selected, this would not be the first time that Willis has been called up to the England squad as he was set to travel to South Africa in the summer of 2018 before a cataclysmic knee injury delayed the upwards trajectory of his career.
Since then, he has seen a handful of players break onto the scene in the back row for England, but he is showing the form necessary to warrant a call-up again.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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