Toulouse star Jack Willis says he has more to give at Test level, but is also reconciled to the fact that he may not play international rugby again after deciding to pursue his club career in France.
The 29-year-old back row won the most recent of his 14 England caps in a solitary appearance at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
He had joined Toulouse in November 2022, but was initially given dispensation to continue playing for England, given his former club Wasps had folded.
However, Willis subsequently extended his contract with Toulouse, rather than returning to an English club, meaning he, like all overseas-based players, is not eligible to play for England under rules introduced by the Rugby Football Union.
“There will always be part of me that will look back and think I had more in me from an international point of view,” Willis told the For the Love of Rugby podcast., external
“I don’t regret my decision to stay here at Toulouse. The way it came about, I didn’t choose to leave England, but I chose to stay. I love it here, that is the first thing.
“As an athlete and a competitor, I don’t think I showed the best version of Jack Willis in an England shirt.”
Willis has become a key part of a Toulouse side that has won three successive French titles and leads the table again this season.
Willis was named the Top 14’s Player of the Year for 2024-25 and was also shortlisted for the Champions Cup equivalent.
It has been speculated that Willis’ Toulouse contract, which runs to 2029, contains a break clause which would allow him a one-season stint elsewhere in the 2027-28 season, giving him the chance to sign with a Prem club on a short-term deal and return to the England set-up in time for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Another option could be a sensational switch to Ireland.
Willis, who qualifies through his grandfather, would be eligible to play for Ireland in late 2026 under World Rugby’s birthright laws, which allow a change of Test allegiance after three years out of the international game.
However, Ireland’s centrally-contracted squad all play for one of the country’s four provinces and only on very rare occasions, such as during fly-half Johnny Sexton’s brief time with French side Racing, have they selected players based outside their own system.
“If it involves moving it would put me in the same sort of situation as it would for England,” said Willis.
“There are always different things you think about, but you would knacker yourself out if you are always thinking about changing and moving and going here and there. Sometimes you have to accept your reality and my reality is pretty good.”
As it is, Willis most recent international action remains England’s 71-0 pool-stage rout of Chile at France 2023. A neck injury in that victory ruled him out of the rest of the tournament.
“There are things I could have done better,” Willis said reflecting on his Test career.
“The way the World Cup unfolded in 2023, I didn’t have many involvements – but I think I have grown as a player and a person and could offer more now.
“I also fully accept that when I re-signed this longer-term contract I understood what came with that from an international perspective. You have to make peace with that.”
Willis’ brother Tom, a hard-running number eight, is moving from Saracens to Toulouse’s domestic rivals Bordeaux-Begles in the summer, also putting at least a temporary end to his international career.
