Last night’s Top 14 awards ceremony in Paris was one of those glittering French rugby occasions where elegance meets muscle. Champagne flowed, tuxedos mingled with blazers, and the red and black faithful of Stade Toulousain had plenty to celebrate. The formidable coaching quartet of Ugo Mola, Jean Bouilhou, Clément Poitrenaud and Laurent Thuery were honoured as the best Top 14 staff, a fitting nod to their quiet brilliance and consistency at the helm. And in true Toulouse fashion, success was matched by heart, with the club’s Sport & Cancer initiative earning the Social Engagement Award, a reminder that this team’s strength extends well beyond the pitch.
However, when Jack Willis was announced as Player of the Year, the applause felt both thunderous and deeply personal. Here was a man who arrived in Toulouse after his club went bust, who learned a new language, who gave everything, and who now stood at the centre of French rugby’s grandest stage, smiling that unmistakable grin that seems to light up even the grumpiest of prop forwards.
Jack Willis isn’t just having a moment, he’s having an extraordinary journey. From the chaos of his old club’s collapse to leading the most successful team in France, he has earned every bit of this latest accolade as the 2024/25 Season’s Top 14 Player of the Year.
It’s a story that deserves celebrating properly, not retroactively claimed by those who once looked the other way.
He was a Wasps man, loyal, fierce, one of the best flankers England had produced in years. Then his club went bust in 2022 and, overnight, he found himself unemployed. Some players would have taken a step back, waited for things to settle. Jack didn’t. He packed his bags, crossed the Channel and signed with Stade Toulousain, the beating heart of French rugby. Within weeks, he was part of the squad’s fabric. Within months, he was captaining the side during the 6Nations international window when both Toto and Juju were playing for Les Bleus.
What he brought wasn’t just skill but substance. He’s an extraordinary jackler, one of the very best at the breakdown, relentless in work rate, but also human and warm. Ask anyone who has had the privilege of meeting him at the club and they will echo my sentiments, and I will remind everyone of one major asset Jack has off the field: that grin, the way he lights up any room and makes fans feel valued by making eye contact. That combination of ferocity on the field and kindness off it is part of why us Toulouse fans have embraced him completely.
Since joining, he has lifted multiple Top 14 titles and the European Rugby Champions Cup. He has been man of the match in crunch games and a constant presence in finals. Every Toulouse supporter knows what he gives his heart and soul to the red and black jersey. Every opposition team knows how much trouble he causes when he’s anywhere near the ball.
And yet, this morning, English social media is suddenly celebrating “an Englishman named France’s best player.” The irony writes itself. This is the same England setup that couldn’t pick him once he moved abroad because of their own eligibility rules. The same Lions selectors who passed him over. Now that he’s thriving in France, he’s apparently “one of ours” again – dream on guys… It’s a bit like watching someone walk away from a perfectly good meal, only to ask for a taste of dessert when it turns out to be Michelin-starred.
Jack Willis is English by birth, yes, and he gave England some fine performances. But he was left without a club, without a country willing to accommodate his new reality. It was Toulouse who opened their doors, Toulouse who trusted him, and Toulouse who made him captain. When he runs out at Ernest-Wallon now, he belongs. Our home crowd sings his name. He’s not on loan from anyone.
If any English fans want to cheer him on, they absolutely should. He’s brilliant, grounded and still young enough to achieve even more. But let’s be honest about who gave him that platform. France didn’t steal him. England lost him.
Maybe one day his children will have a choice of flags to wave, and if they happen to be born in France, they might just fancy singing “La Marseillaise.” Stranger things have happened.
Today, Jack Willis stands exactly where he deserves to be, at the top of French rugby along with the many other great achievers celebrated last night, trophy in hand, smile as golden as the Roi Soleil himself, proving that rejection doesn’t define a player. Grit does. And no amount of belated claiming can change the fact that he is, in every way that matters, one of ours now.
Bravo et Merci Jacques Ouillis !!
