Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall believes Tom Willis’ England debut is only a matter of time after the number eight spearheaded a 35-26 victory over Bristol at StoneX Stadium.
Willis ran in two tries and was imperious throughout, mixing raw power with more subtle touches to finish man of the match as Saracens responded to their record Gallagher Premiership defeat at Bath last weekend with a bonus-point win.
England head coach Steve Borthwick has so far resisted the clamour to pick the 25-year-old, but with the Six Nations opener against Ireland looming on February 1, he has been presented with more compelling reasons to select the tackle-busting number eight.
“Tom was outstanding and he’s been outstanding all season. I can’t remember a match where he hasn’t been outstanding,” McCall said.
“He just needs to keep on doing what he’s doing. If he keeps putting in performances like this, I think he will get rewarded in the end.
“He leads by example, by what he does, by getting over the gainline, by breaking tackles and making tackles – all of the things that you want your number eight to be able to do. He’s been a focal point all year.
“He’s very curious and he wants to get better. He wants to be playing for England and he’s willing to do anything that he has to to make that happen. He’s a great guy to have around the team.”
Willis’ performance also caught the eye of Bristol boss Pat Lam, whose playing career was as a number eight for Samoa, as well as Newcastle and Northampton.
“I was very impressed with Tom and I’ve been impressed with him all season,” Lam said.
“The stats show he’s good, but I can also see that with my eyes. He sets stuff up and he’s been doing that all year. He’s a quality player who is in form.
“It’s over to Steve (for England selection) and there are some good back rows, but certainly Tom is playing consistently well.”
Bouncing back from the 68-10 rout at the Recreation Ground enabled England captain Jamie George to celebrate his 300th appearance for Saracens in style.
“Jamie showed all of his qualities out there – he was one of the best players on the field,” McCall said.
“He’s played 300 games for us, 97 for England and three for the British and Irish Lions because of his competitive spirit and desire.
“You don’t do it for this long unless you have that and very few people have the stamina to do it for a very long period of time.
“But he’s able to combine that with being a really good bloke off the field. He cares deeply about what he does, about his team-mates and about the club.”
