England star is the quietly brilliant operator for star-studded Toulouse (2024)

There is no shortage of rugby podcasts out there these days. The market is truly saturated and a multitude of shows range from forensic analysis bordering on the extreme to laddish offerings which overdose on ‘the bants’.

‘For the love of rugby’ strikes a nice balance, mind you. Chaired by Leicester Tigers and England stalwarts Dan Cole and Ben Youngs, it offers a nice mix of rugby chat, yarns and relaxed, insightful interviews with current and former players.

Toulouse flanker Jack Willis was a guest on the show earlier this week and he gave a fascinating insight into life behind the scenes with a giant of the European game – from training with Antoine Dupont and a galaxy of international stars to eating cheese and ham baguettes on the side of the road – which were laid on by the coach driver – midway through a long commute en route to a Top14 meeting with Toulon.

Willis tells the hosts how thousands of locals turn up on Monday afternoons to watch Toulouse’s first training session of the week. He recalls becoming overcome with emotion on the open-top bus which rocked up to the town square last season after the club secured the league title, with 30,000 locals lining the streets to greet their returning heroes.

He chats about the insane skills of Toulouse’s maverick hooker Peato Mauvaka and how the club have kept recently retired Joe Tekori on the backroom team as a kitman/hype man. The giant Samoan lock was a huge character in the set-up for years.

Throughout the chat, Willis brims with almost a childlike excitement. The 27-year-old almost can’t believe that he’s playing for Toulouse these days.

The club have a long history of sourcing seemingly low-key signings who go on to become central to the club’s performances.

Think of Trevor Brennan or, more recently, Pita Ahki, who came and went without leaving much of an impression at Connacht but is now a mainstay in a stellar Toulouse backline.

Willis was a highly-rated operator back in his native England, winning rave reviews for his performances with Wasps, but he wouldn’t have been regarded as a marquee signing when Toulouse swooped for his services in November 2022 after the Premiership club went bankrupt.

Willis couldn’t believe his luck.

Toulouse boss Ugo Mola believed his back row needed a bit more punch around the breakdown and he moved quickly to get Willis signed up.

Winning turnovers is the England flanker’s USP. Willis is in the Tadhg Beirne class when it comes to stealing opposition ball at the ruck. If anything, he’s even more prolific than Munster’s limpet-like lock.

He has settled in well into this star-studded Toulouse team and become a mainstay in their back row. No doubt, plenty of Leinster’s pre-game analysis would have focused on nullifying the threat of Willis at the breakdown.

The province’s attacking game revolves around those lightning-quick rucks which, in turn, give Jamison Gibson-Park an extra second or two to scan the defensive line for gaps. Willis will seek to be a pest around Leinster’s breakdown ball and disrupt that flow of possession.

Teammates have spoken about his freakish flexibility, which allows him to get into the most awkward of positions when it comes to winning turnovers or ‘jackalling’, if you want to impress people in the pub later.

During that podcast chat earlier this week, Cole – the gnarly tighthead who has played alongside Willis at Test level – recalled how much of a nuisance the Toulouse backrower was during training sessions.

‘F****** hell, Willis,’ teammates would yell after the openside snaffled yet another ball on the deck.

Indeed, many people in the English game feel Willis should be a big part of Steve Borthwick’s plans but the RFU’s stance on selecting overseas based players means he is unlikely to add to his 15 international caps any time soon, particularly given that he signed a three-year contract extension with Toulouse last season.

Willis has thus ruled himself out of England contention by basing himself in France, but how could he turn down the opportunity to play with an iconic club who stockpile trophies?

‘The hard thing for me is being out here I don’t have the opportunity to give myself a shot,’ Willis revealed earlier this year.

‘To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever be fully at peace with it.’

Perhaps a Champions Cup medal might ease that burden. Willis has found a new home in Toulouse and poses a very real threat to Leinster’s title ambitions this afternoon.