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Jack Willis sends social media message after another season-ending injury

Jack Willis is helped off during Wasps' defeat to Saracens

Wasps have been dealt a triple injury blow recently, as scrum-half Dan Robson, and loose forwards Thomas Young and Jack Willis will miss the rest of the season.

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The England half-back has deep vein thrombosis, while Wales international Young has an ankle injury. Although both are expected to make a recovery before the World Cup, they may face a struggle for match fitness and a chance to impress their respective head coaches Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland.

While the World Cup was perhaps not a possibility for the 22-year-old Willis, he has still been bitterly unlucky after only making his return to rugby a few weeks ago.

It was almost this time last year that Willis suffered a multi-ligament knee injury playing for Wasps days after being selected by Jones for England’s tour of South Africa. He is set to have surgery on a stress fracture to his ankle, and will be fit for next season.

The loose forward posted this message to his followers on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwHi0Algxf4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This is gravely disappointing news for one of England’s most promising players. A natural openside flanker, he is supreme over the ball, and has been touted as one of England’s brightest prospects.

His injury came at a terrible time last season, and since then, fellow flankers Tom Curry and Sam Underhill have announced themselves on the international scene and are likely contenders to play in the World Cup in Japan later this year.

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Had Willis remained fit, he would surely be one of the contenders to play in the showcase later this year, and this new injury is yet another setback for a very unfortunate player.

With four games remaining this season, Wasps still have a slim chance of making the top four in the Premiership, although these three injuries will not help them. Equally, they can theoretically get relegated, so head coach Dai Young will hope the absences will not be too detrimental.

All Wasps and England fans, as well as Willis, will hope is that he can bounce back next season and return to the form that helped him make his name in the Premiership, and work his way back into the international reckoning again.

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GrahamVF 1 hour ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

"has SA actually EVER helped to develop another union to maturity like NZ has with Japan," yes - Argentina. You obviously don't know the history of Argentinian rugby. SA were touring there on long development tours in the 1950's

We continued the Junior Bok tours to the Argentine through to the early 70's

My coach at Grey High was Giepie Wentzel who toured Argentine as a fly half. He told me about how every Argentinian rugby club has pictures of Van Heerden and Danie Craven on prominent display. Yes we have developed a nation far more than NZ has done for Japan. And BTW Sa players were playing and coaching in Japan long before the Kiwis arrived. Fourie du Preez and many others were playing there 15 years ago.


"Isaac Van Heerden's reputation as an innovative coach had spread to Argentina, and he was invited to Buenos Aires to help the Pumas prepare for their first visit to South Africa in 1965.[1][2] Despite Argentina faring badly in this tour,[2] it was the start of a long and happy relationship between Van Heerden and the Pumas. Izak van Heerden took leave from his teaching post in Durban, relocated to Argentina, learnt fluent Spanish, and would revolutionise Argentine play in the late 1960s, laying the way open for great players such as Hugo Porta.[1][2] Van Heerden virtually invented the "tight loose" form of play, an area in which the Argentines would come to excel, and which would become a hallmark of their playing style. The Pumas repaid the initial debt, by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park, and emerged as one of the better modern rugby nations, thanks largely to the talents of this Durban schoolmaster.[1]"


After the promise made by Junior Springbok manager JF Louw at the end of a 12-game tour to Argentina in 1959 – ‘I will do everything to ensure we invite you to tour our country’ – there were concerns about the strength of Argentinian rugby. South African Rugby Board president Danie Craven sent coach Izak van Heerden to help the Pumas prepare and they repaid the favour by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park.

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