Tom Willis is giving Steve Borthwick a Six Nations headache
this season, Tom – who at 25 is two years Jack’s junior – stepped up the standard in the 27-5 victory over the Bulls in round one of the Champions Cup., and giving no ground, was just what Borthwick had been looking for from Willis, according to Saracens’ boss Mark McCall.
Borthwick gave Willis a solitary cap in the warm-ups to the 2023 World Cup, then left him out of the tournament. There are reminders of Dallaglio in his pomp in the leg drive Willis imparts and the turnovers he sniffs out – a couple of crucial ones against the Bulls contributed to a 12-4 turnover count in Saracens’ favour – and the cool way he waited for the Bulls to edge back onside before dotting down his third-quarter try.
Harlequins’ No 8 Alex Dombrandt is a wonderful player, but he never seems quite as happy as Willis in the heavy traffic that crops up in the Test arena. In north London, Saracens knew a good thing when they saw it, and they brought the Berkshire-born Tom home in the summer of 2023, having identified him as a successor to Billy Vunipola.Willis had an injury in pre-season of the 2023-24 campaign but he is now “fitter than he’s ever been”, according McCall, after a “phenomenal” pre-season this time round.
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