Potential replacements for Jack Willis after England star suffers World Cup ending injury

England have been dealt a hammer injury blow ahead of their final Rugby World Cup pool match against Samoa, with Jack Willis ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.

It is the first injury setback Steve Borthwick’s side has suffered at the tournament, with Anthony Watson ruled out before the competition.

The flanker sustained a neck injury in the 71-0 victory over Chile in the Red Rose’s penultimate pool match, and on Wednesday evening, the severity of his injury was confirmed.

Willis ruled out

This is just another setback for Willis, who has had an unfortunate run of injuries in the past, sustaining a sickening knee injury during the 2021 Six Nations clash against Italy.

That injury sidelined him for a year, with another setback thereafter seeing him only mark his return to Test rugby earlier this year.

England boss Borthwick will name his replacement for the Toulouse back-rower, with the focus shifting to the quarter-finals after the clash with Samoa.

“We’re really disappointed for Jack because he’s been an important member of this team,” Borthwick said.

“He’s done really well, played an important role in the Chile game and is an important member of this squad over the last period of time.

“We anticipate the injury will be just a few weeks, but given the timescales we’re operating to, it means he will be replaced in the 33.”

Potential replacements

Borthwick has several options at his disposal when picking his replacement.

With Ben Earl, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Billy Vunipola dominating most of the minutes during the tournament, Borthwick could be using the replacement as more of a training player.

Adding to that is Tom Curry, who has now served his suspension and starts against Samoa.

However, we take a look at some of the potential call-ups.

The England boss may want to add another out-and-out number eight in his squad, with Vunipola the only specialist in the squad.

He has three excellent options in Alex Dombrandt, Zach Mercer and Jack’s brother, Tom Willis.

Tom also doubles up as a flanker and adds a similar breakdown threat to his brother.

Meanwhile, Dombrandt and Mercer offer ball-carrying threats, with the latter also an incredibly busy defender.

Ben Curry may have been in the selection frame had he not sustained an injury that dashed his World Cup hopes after appearing in the Six Nations.

If Borthwick is to go with a similar breakdown threat, then Tom Pearson could well receive a call-up after making his Test debut during the warm-up matches.

On the more experienced side is Bath’s openside flanker Sam Underhill, who has yet to play for England under Borthwick. The 27-year-old was a crucial cog in the England pack during the run to the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, with injuries and form impacting his Test involvement since.

A more left-field pick could see Borthwick strengthen his squad in other areas.

Second-rower Jonny Hill narrowly missed out on the squad, while Joe Launchbury has returned to full fitness with Harlequins and could add experience and another lineout general to the team.

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