Andy Farrell ‘simply can’t afford not to take’ Jack Willis as Toulouse star hails ‘amazing’ B&I Lions hopefuls
Toulouse flanker Jack Willis and his teammate Francois Cros.
France and Toulouse star flanker Francois Cros has backed Jack Willis for British and Irish Lions selection and reflects on their Investec Champions Cup defeat to Bordeaux.
After a pulsating 80 minutes in the semi-final, Toulouseās run in the tournament was finally derailed in the heat of Bordeaux as the home team, led by a brilliant performance from Matthieu Jalibert, became the last men standing from the Top 14 as they face Northampton Saints in Cardiff on May 24.
Toulouse can’t moan
Speaking exclusively to Planet Rugby, flanker Cros believes that whilst the champions were without a lot of players through injury, the failure wasnāt down to missing personnel.
āThe 15 guys who started, and our replacements, of course, were good enough to win that match,ā the Toulouse back-rower remarked.
āWe canāt moan about what we donāt have; we have to look at how we played with what was on the pitch and from my personal perspective, that starts with the breakdown and contact area, where we very much came out second best, and thatās bitterly disappointing and I take personal responsibility for that.
āFor us, it means we canāt match our historic year of 2023/24 and that was a real motivation for us. So now, our focus is on getting back into our stride and making sure that the Top 14, where weāre top of the table right now, becomes a realistic aspiration.
āItās very much about changing our focus, as we only have one option now. We are always aware of the weight of expectation thatās on us when we represent Toulouse, and I can assure you that weāll be doing everything we can to retain the Brennus.”
Jack Willis confirms B&I Lions squad announcement plans after āgut punchā Champions Cup defeat
British and Irish Lions hopefuls
The Toulouse flank combination of Cros and Jack Willis has been a feature of their game since Willis joined the French club after the insolvency of Wasps.
Whilst Toulouse will be focusing on their domestic campaign now, Cros is anxious to remind the British and Irish Lions selectors of the quality of both his fellow flanker and of course, the injured Scottish full-back, Blair Kinghorn.
āSince Jack joined us, I have loved working with him and I believe weāve got to a place where we fully understand each otherās games as a partnership. Thatās how we see it and we both know we have different but complementary skill sets,” he said.
āI know how much Lions selection means to Jack and if I were picking that team, heād be one of the first names Iād write down. We call him āpoison de ruckā – which means ābreakdown poisonā – he just kills opposition possession stone dead at source and, despite the result today, I donāt believe thereās any better at that classical British seven role than Jack.
āBlair Kinghorn is out for a couple or three weeks with a mild knee injury, but in Blair, the Lions would have a guy capable of playing wing, full-back or centre at an elite level, and one with both the creativity and pace to thrive on hard Australian grounds.
āMy message to the selectors is simple – you canāt afford not to take either of these two amazing players and great teammates.ā
