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, Toulouse’s 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 wasn’t down to missing personnel.
“The 15 guys who started, and our replacements, of course, were good enough to win that match,” the Toulouse back-rower remarked.
“We can’t moan about what we don’t 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 that’s bitterly disappointing and I take personal responsibility for that.
“For us, it means we can’t 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 we’re top of the table right now, becomes a realistic aspiration.
“It’s very much about changing our focus, as we only have one option now. We are always aware of the weight of expectation that’s on us when we represent Toulouse, and I can assure you that we’ll be doing everything we can to retain the Brennus.”
Jack Willis confirms B&I Lions squad announcement plans after ‘gut punch’ 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.
“Since Jack joined us, I have loved working with him and I believe we’ve got to a place where we fully understand each other’s games as a partnership. That’s how we see it and we both know we have different but complementary skill sets,” he said.
“I know how much Lions selection means to Jack and if I were picking that team, he’d be one of the first names I’d write down. We call him ‘poison de ruck’ – which means ‘breakdown poison’ – he just kills opposition possession stone dead at source and, despite the result today, I don’t believe there’s any better at that classical British seven role than Jack.
“Blair 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.
“My message to the selectors is simple – you can’t afford not to take either of these two amazing players and great teammates.”
