Tom Willis is set to receive about £160,000 from the RFU this season despite not playing for England, having chosen to sign for Bordeaux Bégles.
The Saracens No8 announced on Saturday he would be leaving English rugby next summer to return to Bordeaux, where he spent one season after Wasps went bust in 2022. That decision has ended his England career, as those who play abroad are deemed ineligible for their country by the RFU.
Steve Borthwick decided to drop Willis, 26, from his squad for the autumn Tests, as the England head coach was not prepared to pick a player who would not be in contention for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
Borthwick will not pick Willis again because he wants to “invest in players who are going to the World Cup”
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND
However, Willis is part of the enhanced elite player squad (EEPS), a group of 25 England players who are afforded closer attention and management by Borthwick and his staff. Willis was added to that group in August, so receives about £14,000 per month from the union, pre-tax. In turn, England take charge of his medical and strength and conditioning programme.
This central contracting system was established in 2024 to give Borthwick greater control over the core of his team. It was also pitched as a way of keeping England’s best talent at home, replacing the old system where players were handed a fee of about £23,000 if they made the 23-man squad for a Test match.
As Willis is the first individual to sign one of these EEPS deals and then decide to leave the Gallagher Prem, there is no precedent for cancelling a player’s contract or handing it to someone else mid-season. Borthwick can revise his picks next summer. The Times understands that there is no physical contract that EEPS players sign, either, which further complicates matters.
The RFU has not yet discussed Willis’s contract with him, or decided whether to cancel it, so at present he is in line to receive his payments until June, while Borthwick refuses to pick him for the autumn Tests against Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina, and then the Six Nations.
The former England back Austin Healey said on TNT Sports on Sunday that Borthwick would be “childish” to leave Willis out of his squad, but the head coach was sure he could no longer pick the No8. Willis spoke to Borthwick last Thursday, and on Friday was told he would not feature for England again.
Willis has made the decision to rejoin Bordeaux having not fully settled at Saracens
EDDIE KEOGH/GETTY IMAGES
“He knows how highly I rate him as a player and person, and I wished him well,” Borthwick said. “He’s a wonderful rugby player and a great bloke.
“I think he also understands why I have decided all the time we have should be invested in players who are going to be at the World Cup. Tom is not going to be part of that World Cup given the decision he has made and he understands the decision I made.
“I’ve talked about the importance of the number of times a team gets to play together, and the situation with England that the players are spread over a number of clubs. The time we have together is crucial.
“I have talked to you about the number of Test matches we have between now and the World Cup. I want us to win the World Cup but I also want us to win now. The decision has to be that we invest in players who will be in the team for the future.”
Borthwick was non-committal when asked about Willis’s contract with the RFU. “He was awarded an enhanced EPS in August and I am pretty sure everyone would have made the same decision I did to award him that,” he said.
The No8’s contract with the RFU runs until next summer
BOB BRADFORD/CAMERASPORT VIA GETTY IMAGES
“The contract is in place and from my point of view, after he told me last week, my focus has been on this camp and this selection and not on contracts between a player and the union.”
While Willis will earn more money with Bordeaux next year, and the tax situation in France is more beneficial for athletes than in England, it is understood he had a “great” offer to stay at Saracens, along with interest from Sale Sharks. Willis is said to have enjoyed his time at Saracens but has not fully settled there. He rejected an offer from R360 before deciding to rejoin Bordeaux.
Willis never felt truly backed by the England coaches and was frustrated to be substituted early in Six Nations games last season, though he was told he would have been England’s starting No8 this autumn, as he was in the summer Tests against Argentina and the United States. However, like his brother Jack, who stars for Toulouse, he has decided to play in the Top 14.
Aside from Willis’s defection, Borthwick has other concerns. Tom Curry, who had wrist surgery after the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, and Elliot Daly, who broke an arm on the same trip, are not expected to be fit for the Wallabies match on November 1.
One name who may play this autumn, earlier than expected, is Noah Caluori, the 19-year-old wing sensation who scored five tries on his home Saracens league debut against Sale on Saturday. Asked if Caluori could make his debut this November, Borthwick said: “He could certainly feature.
“Wing is a position where we have plenty of depth, exciting talent and speed, which going back not so long ago English rugby didn’t have. How brilliant is it that we’ve got exciting players like that around. You’ve got young kids talking about them and wanting to be them. That’s absolutely wonderful.”
Borthwick has said it is too early for Owen Farrell to resume his England career, though. Farrell last played for his country at the 2023 World Cup before he left Saracens and signed for Racing 92 in France. He returned to the international fold with the Lions and is now back at Saracens, but Borthwick is not ready to select him.
“Owen and I have spoken regularly throughout his time back in England and when he was in France. I think he’s been very clear that he wants to get back to England, get into the rhythm of playing for his club and enjoy his rugby again after an injury-disrupted year. We’re only a handful of games into this season so I don’t think it’s a conversation for right now.”