Former England out-half Stuart Barnes believes Tom Willis has the tools to show this weekend that he is poised to take things to another level with Steve Borthwick\u2019s national team this November.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old younger brother of Toulouse\u2019s Jack Willis<\/a> has been an England starter in six of his last eight appearances \u2013 including the June uncapped match versus France \u2013 but has yet to become an 80-minute man at international level.<\/p>\n However, after enjoying a flying start to the new PREM Rugby<\/a> season with Saracens<\/a>, Barnes has sung the praises of Willis ahead of his latest outing, this Sunday\u2019s London derby against Harlequins.<\/p>\n Ahead of the visit to The Stoop, Willis received a clear endorsement from Saracens coach Mark McCall, who has opted to name Willis at No.8 and start Ben Earl, the British and Irish Lions tourist, at openside in his first appearance in the 2025\/26 campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cBig moments\u201d<\/p>\n Earl has long been Borthwick\u2019s preferred choice at No.8 for England<\/a>, but selection by Andy Farrell to tour Australia allowed Willis the opportunity to start the two series matches away to Argentina and the one-off fixture in the USA.<\/p>\n Willis has since hit the ground running with powerful displays for Saracens in their convincing wins over Newcastle and Bristol, and Barnes now expects him to be just as prominent when he faces Harlequins 20 days before England open their four-match Autumn Nations Series at home to Australia on November 1.<\/p>\n Writing in The Times<\/a>, Barnes reckoned: \u201cIn Tom Willis, Mark McCall\u2019s men have the most dynamic ball-carrying forward in the Prem. Twelve months ago, Tom was the younger brother of Jack. Now he is vying to make Toulouse\u2019s 28-year-old flanker become known as Tom\u2019s elder brother.<\/p>\n \u201cTom returned to the English club scene after a successful spell at Bordeaux. He picked up a solitary, forgotten World Cup warm-up cap against Wales during the wasteland of England\u2019s nightmare non-rugby period that was Steve Borthwick\u2019s first year in charge.<\/p>\n \u201cBut while Saracens struggled to stay at the top, the No.8 has steadily matured into the most forceful ball-carrier in the English league.<\/p>\n England star opens up on French \u2018reset\u2019 after Wasps demise which has propelled him into Test picture<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe England head coach caught up with public opinion \u2013 to a certain extent \u2013 when he included Willis in the match-day squads for the entire Six Nations\u00a0this year. He started against France, Scotland and Italy but failed to make it past the 54-minute mark.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the first and final games, he was named on the bench with Ben Earl the starting No.8. Earl, back from his enforced rest, will be openside flanker to Willis\u2019 No.8 at the Stoop.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Earl was away with the Lions, Willis was winning his seventh and eighth caps for England in South America. In addition, he played in the pre-tour, non-capped match against France at Twickenham.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was on the pitch for 55, 62 and 65 minutes in the course of the summer. An explosive carrier but not one of Borthwick\u2019s 80-minute men. As if he hasn\u2019t quite proved himself to be the epicentre for England as he is for Saracens.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Saracens put 50 points past Bristol Bears, McCall described Willis\u2019 \u2018big moments\u2019 so far this season. They can\u2019t, technically speaking, be gigantic because the opposition had been blown away. But the point he made was valid.<\/p>\n