Prem Player of the Year Tom Willis embraces Bordeaux return despite England exile

Tom Willis has been named Gallagher Premiership Player of the Year for 2025/26, topping the league’s statistics for carries, defenders beaten and off-loads — yet the Saracens No.8 will depart for Bordeaux next season, a move that has effectively ended his England prospects ahead of the 2027 World Cup.

Willis announced last October that he would return to Bordeaux, the club where he spent the 2022-23 season following Wasps’ collapse. The decision rendered him unavailable for international selection, and head coach Steve Borthwick subsequently overlooked him for both the autumn series and the Six Nations, prioritising players committed to the World Cup cycle. Willis, who holds eight caps and had been offered an enhanced England EPS contract worth around £160,000, says he has made his peace with the consequences.

“I’ve got no regrets,” Willis said. “I’ve had time now to just accept it and I’ve made my decision. I’m thinking more about what I’m going to rather than what I’m leaving behind. There were a lot of factors involved like leaving the country, moving away from family and then rugby factors as well, but for me it was too exciting an opportunity to turn down.”

A significant personal pull is the chance to be closer to his older brother Jack, now a key figure at Toulouse. The prospect of facing him in high-stakes Top 14 or European fixtures gives the younger Willis pause.

“It’s a weird one emotionally because we’re very close,” he said. “If we’re in big games against each other, that’s when it will get a bit twitchy. We’ll see how we go.”

On the rugby side, Willis is joining a Bordeaux side that retained the Champions Cup in May, defeating Bath and Leinster at the business end of the competition, though their domestic form has been inconsistent — the club failed to qualify for the Top 14 play-offs. Willis is undeterred.

“Look what Bordeaux have achieved in Europe the last two seasons. It’s incredible and the team I’m going to try and get into is incredible,” he said. “Playing at the Chaban-Delmas is one of the best things I’ve experienced in rugby. To play there week in, week out is going to be incredibly cool.”

Saracens claimed a double at the Premiership Rugby awards, with Willis taking Player of the Year and Noah Caluori named Breakthrough Player of the Year, both voted for by fellow players.