England flanker Jack Willis has reportedly rejected three Premiership clubs in order to sign a big-money contract overseas.
Wasps entered administration on 17 October 2022 and Willis was made redundant along with all other players and coaching staff.
The 25-year-old, who saw his younger brother sign with Bordeaux yesterday, has turned down approaches from Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam, Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick and Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson.
Instead, The Telegraph now report that Toulouse are the most likely club to land the forward.
Jack Willis facts:
- Willis played junior rugby for Reading Abbey R.F.C. before joining the Wasps Senior Academy in 2015
- He made his England debut against Georgia in 2020 in the Autumn Nations Cup, and opened the scoring with a debut try in the 15th minute as England won 40-0
- Willis won the World Rugby U20 Championship with England in 2016
- He candidly documented the psychological struggles of a second long-term injury in an article series with The Times, admitting that: “There have been times when I thought I would not make it back.”
Warren Gatland’s England XV to face Japan
Back-three:
- 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
- 14. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
- 11. Joe Cokanasiga (Bath RFC)
DID YOU KNOW?
- In May 2022 Steward was named as the Rugby Players’ Association Player’s Young player of the year and England men’s player of the season
- In April 2017, Nowell was called up for the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, becoming the first player to be selected from Exeter Chiefs by the Lions
- Cokanasiga was born in Fiji but before his third birthday, moved to England with his father, Ilaitia, who was in the British Army
Centres:
- 13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
- 12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
DID YOU KNOW?
- He was named Manusamoa, after the name of the Samoan national team, Manu Samoa, because his brother Freddie was selected for Samoa at the World Cup in 1991, the year Manu was born