News – GB – England vs Georgia: Eddie Jones is excited to see what Jack Willis has to offer

England

News

Eddie Jones insists that Jack Willis is ready to expand the depth of the England national team on the open side after the “cruel” hornet winger gave his first appearance against Georgia on Saturday

Willis’s stellar season continues when the Fall Nations Cup opens in Twickenham a month after sweeping the board at the end-of-season awards ceremony in recognition of the distinguished 2019-20 tournament.

Sam Underhill is relieved, so Welles is given the opportunity to demonstrate that the crash experience that had gripped the Gallagher Super League by storm could be a similarly destructive force internationally

Last season, the 23-year-old plundered 46 turns – 27 times more than his closest competitors – to establish himself as one of the most influential English rugby players

🌹 Congratulations to @jackswillis7 who will be attending his EnglandRugby debut! He started alongside joe_launch, with d_jrobson also named at 23 to face GeorgianRugby in the first @ EnglandRugby game of autumnnations! #WaspsAlways pictwitter com / zKj7zgeZAe

“Jack has a good ball nose that gets himself into good positions,” Jones said, “He’s got good natural strength – he’s not a strong guy in the gym – and he’s rolling hard.”

“Turnovers are the most important part of his game, but he is also a good defender and he’s a striker who puts his hands on the ball

“He is one of the few attackers in English rugby and is good at pick and go, so he brings that into the game”

Willis was due to tour South Africa in 2018 but had to withdraw due to a knee injury and his development was subsequently hampered by a major ankle problem

“Choice is a firm plan of action,” Jones said, “We are always looking to see how we can continue to improve the aspect and continue to improve the depth.”

“Sometimes it is about improving the performance in the position, and sometimes it is about improving the depth in the position.

“With Jack Willis, we had the opportunity to increase the depth at seven, so we wanted to see his performance at the test level.

“He’s been in the camp since the Premier League final and he’s trained well, he’s got a great attitude and we feel he deserves the opportunity”

Worcester Center strongman Oil Lawrence won its second hat after debuting on the bench in last month’s 34-5 victory over Italy that clinched the title of the third Six Nations Championship under Jones.

“We’re looking to build depth in this position. Jones said it’s not a position where we got great depth without Manu Twilage there, so we’re looking to build depth.”

“Lawrence is a strong young center so we want him to bring this ability to influence the streak, create momentum and so we can play the back of that”

The Fall Nations Cup will be held behind closed doors due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but Jones refuses to watch a game in Twickenham without fans as it is a possible fictional experience

“The only thing we’ll experience is gratitude. We are very fortunate to be able to play in these conditions now.”

“I was looking at the coronavirus statistics this morning (Thursday) I think there are more than 50,000 deaths (in the UK), 500 per day now the new cases are over 20,000 and we still have the ability to play rugby

“Obviously we’d love to have fans there, but just being able to play top-level rugby is our privilege so we’re excited to play”

© 2020 Sky UK

England’s National Rugby Federation Team, England, Jack Willis, Wasps RFC, Eddie Jones