Rugby World Cup 2019: Willi Heinz, the WhatsApp message of dreams and benefitting from Danny Cipriani

New Zealand-born scrum-half was one of the big shock inclusions in Eddie Jones’s squad, but he’s found himself on the England radar for longer than many would think

As it so often does with the England team, it all started with a WhatsApp message. It is a very 21st Century approach, but the Rugby Football Union do not tell players when they have made the squad, even when it is for the Rugby World Cup.

Eddie Jones prefers to speak only with the players who he has not selected, which on this occasion meant having one of the most painful conversations that a head coach can have, over and over again. Either by face-to-face meeting, text or phone call, the England boss had to contact a number of fringe players to let them know this was the end of their World Cup dream.

For scrum-half Willi Heinz, Monday morning was about as uncertain as possible. The New Zealand-born half-back made his England debut in Sunday’s victory over Wales that was all the more impressive given the responsibility of vice-captain being placed on his shoulders. But with Ben Spencer, Danny Care, Dan Robson and Richard Wigglesworth all understandable options for the World Cup party, Heinz could not take his place for granted.

So when an alert popped up on his phone to add him to the new WhatsApp group that contained precisely 30 other England internationals, Heinz knew he has made the cut.

“It was always going to be tough as there are a few nines there who aren't in the squad, so I'm feeling for them as well,” he said. “You got added to the group for the World Cup and that was a special moment, then we were on the bus for Bristol so that kinda confirmed we were there, so that was a special moment and a special 24 hours.

“We weren't officially told, it was a busy morning for the management. But getting added to that group and once you were on the bus, you kinda knew. Then we had a team meeting where it was officially announced with a video that I think that was put out on social media. It was cool to sit there and watch that together - it was a nice touch seeing old coaches or people that've been involved with the guys' upbringing and their rugby journeys so it was a nice moment for the squad.”

The 32-year-old has been on Jones’s radar for a while ever since being called up to a training camp on Brighton in the summer of 2017, but it appeared he had well and truly fallen off it in the 27 months between his initial trial and eventual first cap. Heinz had to deal with regular injury setbacks that prevented him from showing what he could do with Gloucester for the best part of 18 months, allowing Ben Youngs and Care to continue their scrum-half double-act with England with little competition.

But his return to fitness coincided with the arrival of Danny Cipriani at Kingsholm, and the added attention on the celebrity fly-half inadvertently gave Heinz the larger platform to press his own international claims.

“I think the quality that Danny brought to Gloucester obviously helped all of us,” Heinz added. “There were a number of guys that had really good seasons at Gloucester and probably the detail and the confidence he brought to our attack led to us standing out a bit more.

“Danny really helped my game and put a lot of pressure on me to deliver good ball for the team. He’s a really good thinker of the game and understands what it takes to perform at the highest level.

“I had that little taste in the camp a couple of years ago but apart from that, I hadn't had too much correspondence. I got the message from Eddie at the back end of the last Premiership season, just saying he was watching my progress and to know you were on the radar then was awesome and that lit a bit of a fire to know that to go out there and play well.”

Heinz was actually on holiday with his wife and family in Croatia when the call finally came, informing him that he was in the frame for the squad heading into the summer training camps. I got a message from him [Jones] around March, towards the end of the Premiership season, just saying he was watching my progress. Then the coaches had some one-on-ones with the players that were on the radar a few weeks after that and then I got included in the extended squad to start preparing for the World Cup after the Premiership finished.

“We managed to get away with the wife and kids, we went to Croatia when I finished the Premiership season with Gloucester. I got the call midweek while I was away in Croatia that I was going to be involved in that squad.”