Test debut will shine a light on the skills of England’s new Prince of Darkness

Willis is an undisputed master of the turnover for Wasps but he must now take himself to a new level

When Jack Willis makes his international debut today he will do so as English rugby’s Prince of Darkness.

What I mean by that is the Wasps flanker is the best player in the Premiership at one specific skill – closing off that shaft of daylight between a player’s chest and the ball when he attempts to make a jackal turnover.

That daylight is vital for opposition players and the referee. If you can see daylight between chest and ball, that means an opponent can go lower and drive up, potentially clearing out the would-be jackaller before they can steal the ball. Equally, a referee seeing that gap would think the steal has not been completed, and that the contest for the ball is yet to be won. They will then allow the contest, rather than potentially awarding a penalty for holding on against the defensive side.

Willis, however, is able to go so low that he simply does not allow that daylight to exist. It is the reason he secured 41 jackal turnovers in last season’s Premiership, a staggering 25 more than any other player. It is a skill I tried to perfect, and I cannot begin to tell you how hard it is. To start with, you need an extremely firm base, and to be able to get your legs wide enough to get as low as you can as you bend forwards. Think of it as a reverse limbo.

You then have to get both hands on to the ball and either have the strength to lift it to you under real pressure, or to get your body over it while still supporting your own weight. It is far from easy, and Willis is a master at it. Even if you perfect the technique you still need one extra quality – courage. To get into position to jackal you are leaving your head, neck and back exposed.

When I was playing, you would try to wrap your arm around the attempted jackaller in a “seat belt” position (albeit not going near the neck) and attempt to roll them away. That is now outlawed, and rightly so as it was extremely dangerous.

Willis himself spent 18 months out with a knee injury suffered in a clearout during the 2018 Premiership semi-final, and while that technique is illegal, you will still have players smashing into you as they desperately try to get you off the ball. You have to withstand a lot of punishment, and so far Willis has shown every sign that he can.

I have every expectation that Willis will be a permanent fixture in the England squad for years. You only have to see Eddie Jones’s comments about the 23-year-old this week – in which he called him “flipping tough” and “a knockabout bloke”, which is high praise in his book – to realise the England coach thinks he has found a special talent.

If I were playing opposite Willis I would be tempted to “man-mark” him. By that I mean tracking where goes and only going in to compete at breakdowns he commits to. I used to do that with Heather Fisher and Marlie Packer, and if you can nullify a key strength of the opposition it makes a big difference.

Willis has a point of difference with his turnover ability – not to mention how strong he is with ball in hand – and he adds to the array of options Jones already has at flanker with the likes of Tom Curry and Sam Underhill. I believe the back row is England’s strongest area, because they have so much strength in depth, something they do not in, say, the half-backs or centres. Jones can mix and match depending on the opposition.

He also likes to throw in the odd curveball – such as Maro Itoje starting at blindside today – but this is one area of the England team that has improved immeasurably during Jones’s tenure. The arrival of Willis on the international scene will strengthen it further, and I am looking forward to him enveloping Georgia in darkness today.

You only have to see Jones’ comments to realise the coach thinks he has found a special talent