It took just a minute of the Japan game for Will Joseph to score his first England try. And only another 19 minutes for his hat-trick to be completed before two more scores followed.

But it took four years for Joseph to win his second England cap. To suggest a lot has happened to him in that time would be an understatement of epic proportions.

Stories of athletes spending years in the international wilderness and the battles they fought to return are not uncommon. Few can match the hardships Joseph has faced.

Joseph was one of Eddie Jones’s infamous left-field selections, making his debut against Australia in the summer of 2022 after a shock inclusion in the touring party.

Some of Joseph’s travails since then have been made public, but the full extent of what he has dealt with has not.

Will’s older brother, Jonathan, who won 54 England caps and played for the British and Irish Lions, begins our conversation when we sat down a few weeks ago by listing everything that has happened to paint the full picture. The pride in Jonathan’s voice at the resilience his brother has shown is palpable as he reels off an extraordinary sequence of events Will endured between the ages of 21 and 24.

Sling and arrows

The first came at London Irish, the club at which Will came through, when an infection stopped him from playing rugby for the best part of the year. Not long after, Irish folded, leaving Will without a job.

It seemed like he landed on his feet when a move to nearby Harlequins was secured. After a solid start, Will suffered a Lisfranc injury, which involves bones and ligaments in the middle of the foot. He carried on playing and his performances dipped as he battled through the pain. He fell out of favour at Harlequins and struggled to get back into the team.

Things went from bad to worse when he suddenly became permanently deaf in his left ear after a pre-season training session. He ended up leaving Quins a year early with the club agreeing to let him join Gloucester.

It was at this point that his father, Ivan, who played for Northampton in the 1980s, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Not long after, Will’s twin brother, Alex, who has severe learning difficulties and epilepsy, was put into an induced coma after struggling with uncontrolled seizures.

Despite settling well at Gloucester, Will’s luck did not turn as he suffered another Lisfranc injury. A wrist injury, which required surgery, then followed.

This catalogue of incidents, which Jonathan describes as “unbelievable”, led to the start of this season, where Will has been one of the form players in English rugby, starring for a resurgent Gloucester side at both outside centre and on the wing. A return to the England fold and a first start against Japan followed.

Jonathan has laid out all of this not because he wants his brother to be seen as a “sob story” but for this to be an “eye-opener”.

“It is a lot for anyone between the ages of 21 and 24 to deal with,” Jonathan says. “People on the outside only see what happens on the field but you don’t know exactly what is going on at home behind the scenes. It’s unbelievable, really. The list just goes on and on.

“Going from playing for England to not being picked for Quins must have been horrible. A lot of unfortunate circumstances happened but once you understand each scenario, it is clear why things did not work out.”

When Will first broke through as a teenager in 2021, the uncanny resemblance to Jonathan in terms of playing style dominated the discussion. But Will, who is nine years younger, has now stepped out of his brother’s shadow with scintillating showings, something Jonathan believes is a sign of respect.

“It is easy for people at the start to make comparisons. When I first started, everyone would compare me to Jeremy Guscott and I was like, ‘It is because I’m brown and play the same position’. After a while, that went away and it is the same for Will,” Joseph explains.

“I actually do agree that we are so similar. When I was his age, we are really, really similar. He is slightly bigger than me. The number of times people who have played with me who now play with Will say: ‘You are identical, the way you move’ is crazy.”

The emergence of 24-year-old Will this campaign cannot be separated from the backdrop of the turmoil of the last few years, especially within his family. But Jonathan says things are better than they were, with the “ridiculously scary” episode when Will’s twin Alex was in a coma behind them.

“My dad is doing well, he is on medication now and he is back taking an interest in golf again, which is good. We have just been away as a family to Sardinia, which was amazing. Alex enjoyed his holiday and had a few discos in the evening and stuff like that. We are all in a good place. Mum has to work very hard to keep the family going, though.”

‘It is hard to win them back’

Going back to the start of Will’s ordeals, it is clear that Jonathan is frustrated with how his brother’s time at Harlequins played out.

“It started quite well. He was playing fine but struggling to get into games and get his hands on the ball as much as he needed to, given that was his point of difference.

“It would all come together for the odd game, like against Racing [in 2023]. He was on fire, getting so many touches, beating players, playing really well. But that was when the [Lisfranc] injury occurred.

“A physio was telling the coach he was fine to play, so the coach thinks this kid is fine but he is watching Will and he is not performing because of the injury. That sticks with you as a coach if you are seeing that for three months. You are not thinking about the injury, you are thinking about what they are delivering on the field. That damaged him.

“By the time Will actually got the operation and came back, players were starting ahead of him. Once a coach makes up their mind on you, it is hard to win them back.”

Jonathan believes Harlequins did not understand Will’s personality throughout the injury ordeal. While a lot has been made of the influence of Jonathan, Will’s personality has been shaped just as much by having a twin with severe learning difficulties.

“With Alex having the condition that he has, Will has always been the type of person to sit back and understand that everything is all about his brother, because he needs taking care of,” Jonathan explains.

“Will has always taken a backseat. He will not be high maintenance and push things or take up time. That can be seen in the Lisfranc injury. He probably could have pushed a bit harder about the injury. But you need to consider why his character is the way it is.

“People definitely miss the role of Alex in his formation compared to me, especially since they are twins. He constantly has had to put Alex first and worry about Alex. That does shape you, your demeanour. I always say to people that Will is a much nicer person than I am. A lot of that is because of Alex and putting him first. He now does that with everyone.

“For a coach not to know their player and not understand how to get the best out of them is just unacceptable. You are paid to bring the best out of every single individual on that field, and if you are not… What are you doing?”

Will is not the only player to thrive since leaving the Stoop, with fellow Gloucester player Will Trenholm another example along with Nathan Jibulu (Sale) and Jamie Benson (Ulster).

‘He felt something go in his ear’

While out of favour at Quins, perhaps the most shocking incident of them all occurred when Will unexpectedly suffered permanent hearing loss in one ear.

“The whistle went and he felt something go in his ear. He then went swimming and could not hear in one ear,” Jonathan recalls. “It was an autoimmune response. The body thinks it is being attacked and starts to kill off what it perceives as the attack, but the body was in fact attacking his ear. They don’t know why it happened or how they can fix it. It was crazy.”

Playing with a hearing impairment is not unprecedented, with 2003 World Cup-winner Ben Cohen famously overcoming that obstacle. But it did impact Will’s game initially and forced him to adjust.

“To start with, when a defender was coming from his blind spot he could not hear them,” Jonathan says. “He is now used to playing with it. Having to make up for that loss, he has to scan a bit more, turn his head a bit more, he has to be a bit quicker in terms of seeing the picture and what he must do… as well as telling people on his bad side to shout loudly!”

Will’s decision to leave Quins a year early was driven in part by his desire to be reunited with Gloucester coaches George Skivington and James Lightfoot Brown, with whom he worked at Irish. The support the Gloucester coaches have given Will has been critical to his resurgence.

“Will wants to feel like he is backed. He has had that at Gloucester with Lightfoot Brown and Skivs [Skivington]. If you listen to Skivs talking about Will in the media, you can tell he really rates him, respects him as a human, likes him,” Jonathan says.

“After what Will has had in his life, that is what he needs. Gloucester realise his potential. It was really hard when I had coaches who did not see the potential in me and it does affect you, especially when you know you are capable.”

Jonathan, while conceding he may be just a touch biased, believes Will – along with Gloucester team-mate Seb Atkinson – is the form centre in the country and that his recall is more than justified.

“I looked at Will’s game and just thought he needs to back up performances because over the last three years he would have a good game and then drop off a bit. But at the minute I am loving that every game he is playing at a consistent high level and that is what it takes to be an international.

“I am usually the first one to critique him. I critique him so hard, but he has been class this season. I watch his games live and then I go back and watch it. If there is something he needs to know or see, I’ll send it to him.”

Will’s combination of electric footwork, speed, power and intelligent defending makes him an intriguing candidate to solve the midfield headache that has plagued Steve Borthwick’s reign as England head coach. His versatility to play wing, like he did with aplomb against Japan, will strengthen his case come World Cup selection time, too.

With everything that has happened to Will, it is hard not to want him to take his remarkable comeback to even loftier heights.