Jack Willis loving life with Toulouse after historic Champions Cup win - ‘Can’t put it into words’

Almost two years on from his beloved Wasps ceasing to exist, Jack Willis now has his hands on an Investec Champions Cup winners' medal.

The flanker has been instrumental in every step of Toulouse’s journey to a record sixth star, and the 27-year-old said he “can’t put it into words how amazing this feels.” 

Toulouse were pushed all the way to extra time by Leinster, producing an incredible 100 minutes of intense rugby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. 

Willis played all 100 minutes and was one of the best players on the pitch.

“The way it went back and forth in Leinster’s favour, our favour, you never knew what was going to happen,” the Englishman said on TNT Sports.

“With a couple of minutes to go, we obviously go into extra time, having nothing in the tank, to be honest with you. But I think we believed we could do it. We have an unbelievable respect for Leinster, what a team they are.

“God we’ve had to work hard this week and in previous weeks building up to hoping this game would happen. I just can’t put it into words how amazing this feels.”

The final was a tussle of titanic proportions between the two most successful sides in the competition. In the end, Toulouse's ruthless attack and breakdown-dominance saw them through to the trophy.

“It was tough to get over the gain-line, put it that way,” Willis said.

“Every time you carry you feel like you got melted, and we were trying our best to do the same. 

“Leinster are an incredible team. We knew if we played our rugby we could go and get the result.

“I think what swung it was managing to get over in the corner, that try [from Matthis Lebel]. It was so close, penalty penalty penalty, and then getting that, it made a real big difference.”

Willis made 30 tackles, 17 more than Leinster's highest tacklers of the day. He made nine carries and was exceptional in the breakdown.

He is consistently reaching numbers and statistics that rival his team-mate and captain Antoine Dupont, who was the final's Player of the Match and the chief architect behind Toulouse's historic win.

"He (Dupont) could have had seven on his back and got Man of the Match today," TNT Sports pundit Sam Warburton said.

"There's lots of top-class players who have two or three creme de la creme years and they tail off a little for a couple of years.

"I've always thought with Dupont that he's going to tail off. But he's never tailed off. He's just maintained this unbelievable level of performance for around six or seven years that I've never seen.

"He doesn't have a dip. He's such a rare player."

The former Wales captain also had words of praise for Willis.

"I don't know Jack, but I feel like I want to find him just to tell him how much I think of him as a player," Warburton said.

"I think he's phenomenal. He's fitted in so well to Toulouse. Brilliant ball in hand, exceptional at the breakdown which is where he made his name defensively in England.

"Any other day, without Antoine Dupont, he would have been my Man of the Match."

Willis’ story is well known in rugby. Coming through Wasps’ academy and bursting onto the scene. The now-defunct club lost the Premiership final to Exeter Chiefs in 2020 but Willis picked up a handful of awards, being named the Premiership Player of the Season and the Discovery of the Season.

After the club entered administration and was automatically relegated in 2022, Willis was swiftly picked up by Toulouse, where he has frequently produced match-winning performances.

Reminiscing after the extraordinary win, Willis added: “It was so tough what we went through at Wasps. 

“I miss so much about Wasps every day. I miss playing with my best mates, I miss playing with my brother. 

“But this group is amazing and they’ve welcomed me in so well. I feel part of it here, from top to bottom, everyone in the club, not just the boys.

“To play in games like this, this is what it’s about. I love it. I’ve loved it and I’m loving it.”

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