Eddie backs Willis to be magnificent seven for England

EDDIE JONES insists Jack Willis is ready to extend England’s depth at openside after giving the Wasps flanker his debut against Georgia.

Willis’ stellar year continues when the Autumn Nations Cup opens at Twickenham tomorrow, in the month after he swept the board at the endof-season awards in recognition of an outstanding 2019-20 campaign.

Sam Underhill has been rested, so Willis gets the opportunity to prove the breakdown expertise that has taken the Premiership by storm can be destructive at international level.

Last season he plundered 46 turnovers – 27 more than his nearest rival – to establish himself as one of English rugby’s most influential players.

‘Jack has got a good nose for the ball. He gets himself into good positions. He’s got good natural strength – he’s not a gym-strength person – and

he’s flipping tough,’ England coach Jones said. ‘Turnovers are the highlight of his game, but he’s also a good defender and he’s an attacker that gets his hands on the ball.

‘He’s one of the few forwards in English rugby who’s good at “pick and go”, so he brings that to the game.’

Willis, 23, was due to tour South Africa in 2018 but missed out with a knee injury and his development was then hampered by an ankle problem.

‘Selection is a constant action plan. We are always looking to see how we can keep improving the side, keep improving the depth,’ Jones said.

‘With Jack, we’ve got an opportu

nity to increase the depth at seven, so we wanted to see how he performs.’

Powerful Worcester centre Ollie Lawrence wins his second cap after making his debut off the bench in last month’s 34-5 victory over Italy.

‘It’s not a position where we’ve got great depth without Manu Tuilagi,’ Jones added. ‘Lawrence is a powerful young centre so we want him to bring that ability to dent the line and for us to be able to play off of that.’

The game will be played behind closed doors, and Jones said: ‘Obviously, we’d like to have fans there, but just to be able to play top-level rugby is a privilege for us, so we’re excited.’