Jack Willis admits his move to France has been a complete roller coaster ahead of what is the "biggest club game" of his career against Leinster.
The 26-year-old England flanker spent his entire professional career with Wasps before the club, 2004 and 2007 European champions, went into administration last October.
That led to some soul-searching and quick-thinking with Toulouse coming in for the Reading native, who signed for the five-time Heineken Champions Cup winners in November.
"It's certainly been a rough roller coaster of emotions," Willis told reporters ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster in Dublin (3pm, live on RTÉ).
"Going from everything that happened at Wasps was probably the lowest low point of my career so far. And in life in general. It didn’t just affect me.
"It affected friends, family and I had to sort of find what was next. And I feel very, very fortunate that I’ve ended up at such a special club.
"This is now probably the biggest week’s prep I’ve ever had in my club career, the biggest club game I’ve ever been involved in. So it really is pretty special and I feel very grateful."
Given the circumstances that led to Willis moving abroad, the RFU were able to give a dispensation to allow him to play with England. He played in four of their Six Nations matches this season.
"As it stands, we all know where the ruling lies. You’re not allowed to play abroad. From my end, there’s lots of things that are being discussed," said Willis, whose Toulouse team have beaten Munster, Sale, Bulls and Sharks in the competition so far.
"The way Toulouse have been during the Six Nations, I couldn’t believe how supportive they were of my career.
"The first week I was sent back when not selected [for England] and that was disappointing. It was due to the fact that I had to play the previous week for Toulouse and that was an influence because it meant I had less training time.
"But when I spoke to the guys here, they basically said whatever you need to be involved for the rest of the games in the Six Nations, we will do it for you.
"And I was sort of blown away by their support and willingness to put my best foot forward in whatever I wanted. They would support it no matter what situation it left them in here. They were great."
Willis has never crossed paths with Leinster but was a member of England’s U20 World Rugby Championship squad in 2016 when they beat an Ireland side containing Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Max Deegan and Hugo Keenan in the final.
More recently he faced Ireland, who featured Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan in the back row, when Andy Farrell's men clinched the Grand Slam last month. Willis was yellow-carded for a senseless tackle on Ross Byrne towards the end of the contest.
"We all know the quality of the likes of Van der Flier and Doris and how well they’ve been playing both for Leinster and Ireland in recent months," Willis told RTÉ Sport.
"They both pose a real threat at the breakdown but also in the way Leinster attack.
"They add heat to the game and I think if we can stop them getting over the gain line and offloading and playing the way they want to play then hopefully it will go a long way to stopping the flow of their attack because they really are the pivotal part of getting Leinster over the gain line and getting go-forward.
"Their work-rate, their fitness, they are very mobile, a mobile pack as well as the backline [is what makes them a great side].
"They’ve also got a lot of strength in first phase, they clearly work a lot from their lineout plays, set plays, not just lineouts, tap and goes, things like that.
"They’ve got a lot of detail that they layer in and I think you see the quality throughout and the way they work for each other.
"They are very well drilled as a side so it’s just about trying to break that down as much as we can."
Toulouse is, of course, the home of Trevor Brennan, the former Leinster and Ireland flanker, who won two Heineken Cups with the team.
Willis says he has met up with the former Barnhall man.
"He’s a great guy, Trevor, and his son Josh, too," said Willis, who has 11 England caps.
"They are a great family and they’ve got a great history here. He’s got three sons.
"Two of them are playing professional rugby in France, one here and one at Brive [Daniel].
"Yeah, he’s been really welcoming especially from a family perspective.
"Megan [Jack’s wife] has been down there with few girls to his bar a few times. We’ve had a couple of team meals there so yeah, he’s a great guy Trevor."
Watch Leinster v Toulouse in the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final live on Saturday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport and listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch England v France (1pm) and Italy v Wales (3.30pm) in the Women's Six Nations live on Saturday on RTÉ Player
