Jack Willis voted best player in the Top 14 for the 2025-2026 season

Already named Best Player in the Top 14 by his peers last year, Stade Toulousain captain Jack Willis was once again elected for the 2025-2026 season. Appointed alongside Bordelais Matthieu Jalibert and New Zealand fly-half from Clermont, Harry Plummer, the English third row, a real poison in defense and in the rucks, where he scratches countless balls, is only the second player, after his teammate Antoine Dupont (2023 and 2024), to retain his crown. This is the eighth time in 22 editions that a Stade Toulousain player has been crowned. And the 16th time that the trophy has been awarded to a foreign player.

Arriving in France in 2022, the Englishman has since always ended the season by lifting the Brennus shield. Four French championship titles therefore, and a Champions Cup in 2022. Everything but a coincidence as his contribution in obscure tasks, his roughness in combat and his defensive presence are precious for a team focused on the offensive.

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French Champion every year

In four seasons (he is starting his fifth), Willis has played 93 games (76 starts) in the red and black jersey and, in addition to his defensive slaughter, scored 26 tries. A presence in all four corners of the field which saw his contract extended until 2029 a few months ago.

Loyalty for a consequence: the English selection remains closed to him, the RFU refusing to allow a player playing abroad to wear the XV de la Rose jersey. Jack Willis therefore remains stuck at 14 caps (the last during the 2023 World Cup). A big loss for England, now also deprived of his younger brother, Tom Willis, who has just joined the ranks of the UBB.

“I don’t regret my decision to stay in Toulouse for a long time. (…) I did not choose to leave England. But I chose to stay in Toulouse. »

Jack Willis

When it came time to extend his lease, Jack Willis said he took full responsibility for his choice. “I don’t regret my decision to stay in Toulouse for a long time. With the things that happened at Wasps (club suspended, Editor's note), I did not choose to leave England. But I chose to stay in Toulouse. I don't regret that. I love the way we play here. And I love being in France.” Country where his daughter was born. “She will be able to compete for the French team one day,” the most Frenchie of the English declared with a laugh.