With just a year and a half to go to the World Cup, Jack Willis is one of many players in the international wilderness whose eligibility will be of great interest to some of the biggest contenders.
The English flanker has not played for his country since the 2023 Rugby World Cup group stages, and will be able to play for other test nations for which he is eligible come this September.
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World Rugby allow players to switch allegiances once they have gone three full years without an appearance at test level, a milestone Willis will reach on September 23rd 2023.
The back row has been one of Toulouse’s standout players during a golden era for the French giants, winning a Champions Cup in 2023 and three successive Top 14 crowns.
He would thus be in high demand for other test teams for next year’s World Cup, and the flanker is eligible to play for Ireland through his Northern Irish-born grandfather.
Quoted ahead of the 2023 Champions Cup final against Leinster, Willis said:
I am quarter-Irish. My grandad is from Northern Ireland so he’s fully Irish. But I’ve always grown up supporting England, my brother (Tom) the same,” Willis says. “You are always looking into possibilities, you want to be playing international rugby but, for us, we see ourselves as English.
At the time, Willis had been granted exception to the rule that requires England internationals to play their club rugby in the country. His move to Toulouse earlier that season had been somewhat born out of necessity rather than choice, when his previous club Wasps entered administration in October 2022.
25 May 2024; Toulouse players, Blair Kinghorn, left, and Jack Willis celebrate after their side’s victory in the Investec Champions Cup final between Leinster and Toulouse at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
However, with the Englishman having remained sidelined by his national team ever since, rumours have grown that he could make a sensational switch to represent Ireland.
Jim Hamilton addressed those rumours on this week’s Rugby Pod, even admitting he had heard links of a shock switch to Munster.
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Jim Hamilton address Jack Willis-Ireland rumours
Jim Hamilton revealed on this week’s episode of The Rugby Pod that a move to Munster has been rumoured for Irish-eligible flanker Jack Willis.
Though he said he could not see it happening, Hamilton confirmed that whispers were circulating on the sensational prospective move.
Hamilton: “There’s rumours they’re adding to the squad. I can’t see it happening, and I don’t know where this guy has any Irish in him, but Jack Willis from Toulouse to Munster.”
Goode: “I think it’s one of his grandparents is Irish.”
Hamilton: “He’s Irish then.”
Goode: “It’ll be two fingers up to Steve Borthwick and England, wouldn’t it?”
Hamilton: “I can’t see it, but there are rumours doing the rounds.”
A move to Munster would confirm Jack Willis as a potential Ireland international, with the IRFU sharing the RFU’s stance on requiring test players to ply their club trade in the country.
It would be among Munster’s biggest coups of recent years and completely shake up Ireland’s back row options a little more than a year out from the World Cup in Australia.
As unlikely as it may seem, it’s hard not to be excited by the prospect of this move coming off.
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