'It's scary to see how far he is going to go' - Jimmy Gopperth predicts high ceiling for Wasps teammate Jack Willis
Jimmy Gopperth says it is “scary” to see how far Wasps’ England hopeful Jack Willis will go in top-level rugby.
Uncapped flanker Willis produced a command performance in front of England head coach Eddie Jones as Wasps reached their first Premiership final for three years with a 47-24 drubbing of Bristol.
The 23-year-old scored a try, saved another with a brilliant tackle to deny Bristol fly-half Callum Sheedy and bossed the breakdown area like a seasoned veteran.
On current form, it would be a monumental surprise if he does not feature during England’s six-game autumn schedule, which has matches against the Barbarians, Six Nations opponents Italy and four Autumn Nations Cup fixtures.
Willis was selected by Jones for England’s 2018 South Africa tour, but a serious knee injury put paid to his chances and sidelined him from the sport for several months.
“Jack is going from strength to strength,” said Wasps centre Gopperth, whose 22-point haul underpinned Bristol’s demise.
“He is still so young. It’s scary to see how far he is going to go.
“The way he has battled back (from injury), his self-determination and the way he has stayed on point.
“It would have been very easy for a young guy to mentally switch off and go ‘Jeez, I got the call-up, this has happened to me, stuff this, stuff that’ and blame everyone else.
“But he has actually gone the other way and gone ‘I am going to work harder’. If he is not Premiership player of the year, something has gone wrong.”
Willis has proved instrumental in Wasps’ spectacular climb from the Premiership’s lower reaches they occupied earlier this year.
Under head coach Lee Blackett, they have risen rapidly, winning 12 of their last 13 games to book a Twickenham appointment with Exeter on October 24 in a repeat of the 2017 final that Chiefs won after extra-time.
Gopperth added: “Straight away, then (in 2017), it was ‘Wasps have got to the final!’ We didn’t really expect it.
“We were playing awesome rugby and we had some star-studded guys, but we probably played our final the week before. That last-ditch play-off win against Leicester was huge for us.
“We went down there (Twickenham) to sort of ride the wave, whereas I think we’ve now got enough experience in finals that it’s different now.
“We understand what is in front of us. A lot of hurt from that can go a long way for a bit of motivation.
“We’ve given ourselves an opportunity to be on the big stage. Before Christmas, people wouldn’t have backed that. The way we have fought together and trusted our process has been brilliant.”
Wasps are chasing a first Premiership title since 2008, when players like Lawrence Dallaglio, Josh Lewsey, Phil Vickery and James Haskell ruled the roost.
Unlike on that occasion, though, when the final was watched by a then world record crowd for a club game of 81,600, it will all unfold behind closed doors.
“Going down to Twickenham, it will be quite eerie,” Gopperth said.
“When you are playing with no fans, at the end of the day rugby is rugby and you can stay in the moment within your group, and when you are playing your focus is solely on the game.
“But when you score tries and make turnovers, that’s when the crowd erupts and you get that emotional drive.
“It’s weird, if you go on to win the thing, to be by yourselves. You would love the supporters to be there.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments