Four contenders to take Tom Willis' enhanced EPS contract when it ends

There is no doubt that Tom Willis’ decision to move to France next season forced England head coach Steve Borthwick to go back to the drawing board.

The No.8’s move was made public just 24 hours before England named a preliminary training squad before the Autumn Nations Series, but no one knows how much warning the coaching team were given to amend their plans. While still eligible while he remains in England until the end of the season, the Saracen was understandably omitted from the squad as Borthwick now focuses on the future.

What is certain is that the 26-year-old would have been in the originally drafted England squad before his move was known, and a firm favourite to start at No.8 when Australia visit Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on November 1.

Leicester Tigers’ uncapped Emeka Ilione appears to be the beneficiary of Willis’ absence for now, but there will be a greater reward come the end season with an enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contract up for grabs.

Willis was one of 25 players awarded a contract in November, something he will now forgo as he puts his England career on hold while he plays in France, so here are four contenders to take his contract next season.

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1. Chandler Cunningham-South
Since making his debut in the opening match of the 2024 Six Nations, Cunningham-South has only missed one match for England, and that came at the end of that tournament due to injury. He has featured in the last 14 Tests (though primarily from the bench in 2025), so it may have come as a surprise that the 22-year-old missed out on a contract originally. With so much back-row depth in England, the reality is that some good players were not going to make the cut. Borthwick is fashioning him into a lock, and that would seem an easier avenue to earn an enhanced contract moving forward. Indeed, Harlequins started him in the second-row at the beginning of the season, but he has switched to No.8 for their recent matches, and now there could be a vacancy in the England squad too. Positionally, this is the most logical replacement.

2. Sam Underhill
It is hard to single out a bad performance Underhill has ever produced across his 42 caps for England since making his debut in 2017. However, what lets the Bath star down is that injuries have only allowed him to play 42 times since then. To put into context, Tom Curry – who has also had his share of injuries – made his debut on the same tour of Argentina, and has gone on to play 62 times for England, with a further six caps for the British & Irish Lions. At 29, Underhill is in no way over the hill, and should he be able to string together a number of England appearances this season, particularly with a few back-row absentees in November, he could earn that contract. He is not a like-for-like replacement in the back-row for Willis, then again, the list of the enhanced EPS contracts isn’t based on the best matchday squad, rather the best players.

3. Jack van Poortvliet
Having a 25-player squad, and therefore two players more than a matchday squad, would necessitate at least two scrum-halves in theory. Lions No.9 Alex Mitchell, however, is the only representative from the scrum-halves on the list. That doesn’t mean that the other options are poor; rather, the competition is so fierce that it was too hard to choose. Van Poortvliet served as Mitchell’s deputy in the Six Nations, but then found himself in the same position behind Ben Spencer in the series against Argentina. It’s hard to call between those two, but JvP is nine years Spencer’s junior, so edges it here. With Harry Randall and Raffi Quirke in the mix as well, it is easy to sympathise with Borthwick if he had trouble picking.

4. Owen Farrell
The way 20-year-old Henry Pollock went from a Northampton Saints fringe player at the beginning of last season to a Lions tourist with an enhanced EPS contract just shows that next season’s contracts are likely to contain names that are scarcely considered at the moment – Noah Caluori being a prime example. But there could be some veterans who may throw their hat in the ring over the next few months, and Owen Farrell is the clear contender. It may only be a matter of time before the former captain is back in the squad.