Jack and Tom Willis: the brothers who became team-mates ? and now Top 14 rivals
On Sunday Jack Willis's Toulouse play Tom Willis's Bordeaux B?gles in the Top 14. Whatever happens, dad Steve will be brimming with pride
By Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer 5 May 2023 ? 2:28pm
On Sunday night at Stadium de Toulouse, a wild ride of a season for the Willis brothers is set for another twist. In a pivotal contest at the summit of the Top 14, as the league leaders host Union Bordeaux B?gles, Jack and Tom are poised to face one another in a proper match for the very first time. Even in the garden growing up, they would usually be on the same side taking on a father-sister double-act.
?The stuff we used to do in the garden was? ridiculous,? says Steve, the Willis patriarch. ?My favourite was the two-on-two we?d have with me and Annabelle against the two boys.?
?I remember that,? chimes in Jack. ?If one of us ever tackled Annabelle??
?I?m surprised we didn?t get more injuries,? laughs Tom. ?The games could go pretty rogue. We would all be within inches of the shed, broken nails, bits of wood.?
A half-hour conversation with the Willis men is easily enough to illustrate a tight-knit relationship. Topics range from the heart-breaking demise of Wasps to French rugby union fandom via lessons learned in the Top 14. It ends with what it would be like for Jack and Tom to finish a rollercoaster year as England team-mates at the World Cup. Whether or not that dream scenario transpires, you sense that the brothers will not forget their roots.
'Dad's been an idol for me and Tom'
Throughout their young yet impressive careers, the Willis brothers have exhibited an intangible, instinctive feel for the game. The influence of Steve seems clear. He amassed around 350 league appearances for Reading Abbey, the family?s local club, between 1987 and 2015. At the age of 45, he finally retired after an initial attempt to do so nine years previously.
Steve could not commit to coaching either one of his sons? teams because he was still playing himself and wanted to watch them both anyway. That left him jogging around on Sundays at Reading Abbey. ?There?s a road between the pitches at Abbey,? Jack says. ?Depending on where the action was, Dad would be running across that road to see it.?
Having a gnarly back-rower ? and a bona fide club legend ? for a father had many perks.
?For me, what he?s passed on is that aggression you try to bring on both sides of the ball,? Tom says. ?Mainly, that?s been in my ball carry. He?d always tell me that I?m at my best when I?m showing that fight, never quitting while carrying the ball.?
?Without trying to fluff up Dad too much, he?s genuinely been an idol for me and Tom,? Jack adds. ?Some of my best memories growing up were down at Abbey and I?ll always remember watching Dad play in the summer games. The friendships that I?ve seen Dad make through rugby is one thing that?s been passed onto us, realising the value of that.?
Steve and Tom, two years his junior at 24, are the first people Jack calls after a game because he knows an honest appraisal will be forthcoming: ?Theirs are the two opinions that matter most to me? if one of us thinks that the other has had a s--- game, we?d say.?
'Tom's hand-off makes him difficult to take down'
There will not have been too much tough love this season. Jack was arguably England?s stand-out individual in the Six Nations and has become increasingly prominent for Toulouse. According to Opta, he is plundering turnovers at a rate of 1.87 per 80 minutes in the Top 14, putting him third in the league standings, and averaging just under 15 carries each match.
Christophe Urios was sacked as Bordeaux?s head coach in November, meaning Tom went from the Wasps frying pan into a different fire. But, a few weeks in, his last-gasp breakdown steal sealed a 12-8 away victory over La Rochelle. Tom has not looked back. He is beating defenders more prolifically than anyone else in the competition and Bordeaux are play-off contenders.
Steve is probably best placed to suggest how they have developed. ?Jack?s game has evolved in terms of offloading and link play with Toulouse,? he says. ?It now surprises me if he doesn?t offload, or if he?s not getting to a breakdown and distributing the ball to link things. Tom?s carrying has just got massively better. When he can find a small amount of space, he?s haring away because he?s been running at brick walls as well.
?When the forwards are set in defence, they are probably a level up from the Premiership in terms of their size and power, so he?s had to evolve his carrying and how he?s going to approach it. This fabulous hand-off he?s got keeps him moving and makes him difficult to take down. I?ll always remember Tom Cruse, the Wasps hooker, saying that Tom was like a ?bag of spanners? to tackle in training.?
'The Top 14 is so attritional'
Jack did not just want to contribute trademark breakdown defence to Ugo Mola?s squad. ?Back home, there are moments when you open up as a team but it?s fairly rigid and structured,? explains the 26-year-old openside. ?The way we play is even considered loose in France and I wanted to be able to add to it.?
Tom, meanwhile, has benefitted from a term in a school of hard knocks and hard yards. ?I?ve had to develop my carrying because if I just ran in a straight line every time I would be getting whacked by three people,? admits the specialist No 8. ?This league is so attritional and so physical that you need to find different ways to break teams down.?
Raucous atmospheres are highlighted as another eye-opening aspect. Steve recalls a trip to see his eldest against Castres: ?Some of the core away fans from Castres were there and you could hear the singing, see the flares going off. And then it just stops. Everyone is stood still. Some guy has climbed up onto a fence with a drum and the whole crowd goes off. We hadn?t even made it to the stadium! It?s amazing, having that support.?
'It'll be tough with Tom back in England'
The brothers are relishing their French adventure, which is all the more heartening given the gut-wrenching manner in which ties with Wasps, their first professional club, were severed. Jack does not shy away from the hurt he has felt, and the difficult days that lie ahead when Tom joins Saracens this summer while he stays at Toulouse.
?The biggest thing that hit me was not being able to play with the best mates I?ve made in rugby,? he says. ?Not being able to play alongside Tom has been the toughest thing to come to terms with out of all of this. If I?m being really honest, I think it?ll be really tough next season with Tom back in England. That?ll be a bit of a change.?
Having found himself at the centre of debates over England eligibility and whether players should be selected from outside the Premiership, Jack will be eager to be picked for the World Cup. Tom, uncapped, is known to be of interest to Steve Borthwick as well. There is an understandable coyness from the players about the prospect of combining in Test matches. Dad does not have to play it as cool. Has he thought about watching two Willises in white? Of course.
?Yeah, I have, obviously,? Steve says, before a brief pause. ?I?m a soppy date anyway and the boys just make me ridiculously proud all the time; everything they do. Their performances are always at a high level. They wear their hearts on their sleeves when they go out on the pitch and that?s fabulous to see. Seeing them both in an England shirt? It?s been crazy enough just seeing Jack do it. My God. I couldn?t find the words for you.?
Always a Wasp
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