Jack Willis retains Top 14 player award as Test ambitions remain on hold

Jack Willis has retained the Top 14's best-player award for the 2025-26 season, adding another individual honour to his success with Toulouse while reaffirming his wish to play international rugby again. BBC Sport reported that the England back row beat fellow nominees Matthieu Jalibert, of Bordeaux-Begles, and Clermont-Auvergne's Harry Plummer to the award.

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The result makes Willis only the second player to win the accolade in consecutive seasons, following France captain Antoine Dupont. It comes after his player-of-the-match performance in Toulouse's victory over Montpellier in June's Top 14 final. That win brought him a fourth French league title, alongside the Champions Cup trophy he won with the club in 2024.

His club achievements have not reopened the door to England selection. Willis joined Toulouse in November 2022 after Wasps went out of business and initially received an exemption allowing him to continue representing England. His last international appearance came against Chile during the pool stage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, when he earned the most recent of his 14 caps.

England's policy ordinarily limits selection to players based at domestic clubs. By choosing to stay in France, Willis put himself outside those eligibility rules. The 29-year-old acknowledged that he understood the international consequences when he made that decision. According to BBC Sport, he said representing his country remained an ambition, while accepting that the existing restrictions still applied.

There is a separate, theoretical route through Ireland. BBC Sport reported that three years have now elapsed since Willis last played for England and that his Belfast-born grandfather provides a connection under World Rugby's birthright eligibility rule. That does not mean an international switch is imminent: eligibility and a country's willingness to select an overseas-based player are separate questions.

Ireland strongly favours home-based players, although exceptions have previously allowed Jonny Sexton and Tommy Bowe to continue their international careers while playing abroad. Other overseas players, including Simon Zebo, have been left out. BBC Sport described an arrangement permitting Willis to represent Ireland while staying at Toulouse as highly unlikely. Willis himself pointed to Ireland's restrictions when discussing the possibility, leaving his latest award a club milestone rather than a confirmed route back to Test rugby.