Time for Willis to make himself undroppable for club and country

Last season marked a breakthrough campaign for Willis, as he gradually forced his way into Steve Borthwick’s back row, and he has started five of England’s eight Test matches so far this year.

Back in January the Saracens head coach, Mark McCall, described Willis as a “focal point” for the club, going on to be nominated for player of the season and making the Premiership dream team. Now the next step for Willis is to become similarly integral for the national side, with the next Rugby World Cup looming into view.

He has started this season, his third for Saracens, like a rocket. A bruising carrier at 6ft 3in and 18st, Willis has been the most effective ball-carrying forward through two rounds of the Prem, averaging five metres per rumble (28 runs for 140 metres). He belongs in the category of players you would least want to try to tackle when they are running at full speed. The sight of Willis haring towards two defenders before releasing an offload, a key part of Max Malins’ try in Saracens’ thrashing of Bristol last weekend, was particularly satisfying.

No player in the league has beaten more defenders than Willis on 18 – five more than the next best player – but he is not just some luxury player in attack.

Willis is a grafter. Through two rounds he ranks fourth for tackles (on 35) and has poached three turnovers. After that big win over Bristol last weekend, McCall noted Willis’s conversations with Borthwick, the England head coach, have boosted his confidence. You can see it in his play. It is quite extraordinary to have two brothers at the top of the game, one emerging as a fixture in England’s pack, while the other, Jack – who would be playing for England were it not for the RFU’s ban on selecting overseas players – has just been ­officially been named the best player in France following a second straight Top 14 title with Toulouse.

A source at Saracens, when ­discussing the areas that Willis had focused on improving in order to take his game to the next level, informed The Observer that there had been an emphasis on his handling work, right back to the basics of how Willis catches the ball – less into his chest, freeing his hands up more away from his body – in order for him to become more effective in his offloading game and as a distributor.

This is a fascinating season for Willis for another reason: he is out of contract at the end of the ­campaign. Multiple sources have told The Observer that two clubs in France, Lyon and Bayonne, have made approaches to sign Willis for 2026. There is also interest in Japan and, unsurprisingly, from R360 too. Willis’s previous stop in France, with Bordeaux-Bègles after the demise of Wasps, was a bit of a stop-gap. Going back now would mean big money.

Saracens will fight to keep him, and the lure of an enhanced Elite Player Squad contract from the RFU, worth £160,000 on top of his club salary, and representing England at a World Cup, is significant.

However, what if by the end of four autumn Tests, Willis is not the ­automatic selection at No 8 and England stick with Ben Earl? Then that decision over his future suddenly becomes a little bit trickier.

Photograph by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images