When Anthony Watson suffered a broken jaw training with England in Brighton at the beginning of October, he did not let an injury that was to rule him out of action for three months get him down in the mouth. Within a few days, he had asked Bath for some time off to work on his own with the sprint coach Jonas Tawiah Dodoo so that one of the quickest wings in the game could become even faster.
Watson, who turns 23 on the day that England play Italy at Twickenham next month, was unavailable for England’s four autumn internationals when they extended their winning run to 14 matches, but he spent the time working on aspects of his game, such as running and passing, not feeling sorry for himself. He will need the same mental approach this week as he awaits the result of a scan on a hamstring strain picked up at the training camp in Portugal that may leave him a doubt for Saturday’s opening match.
Watson epitomises the work ethic instilled by the England head coach, Eddie Jones, in the last 13 months: to stand still is to go backwards.
“Eddie is a straight-talker and there are no two ways about things,” said Watson. “It is his way and as a player you listen to what he has to say and then go back to your club to work on it, knowing that he will take notice. I would not say that I am surprised how quickly things have turned around under him: the quality in the squad has always been there for everyone to see. We just needed a bit of guidance and Eddie has been the perfect character to lead us forward.
“Off the pitch, he gives us a lot of freedom to make the right choices. That has brought the team together and you have seen that when games get to 60 minutes and it is stalemate, people put in that extra effort and that is partly developed off the field, so it becomes like a club atmosphere. All I can remember about my first one-to-one meeting with him is being told to improve my footwork and get faster; which I have. Wing is a massively competitive position and you have to strive to get better every training session.”
Watson, who has scored 12 tries in his 24 Tests, was an ever-present under Jones until he broke his jaw, scoring a try in each of the last three matches in the 2016 grand slam success and another in the friendly against Wales at Twickenham in May before starting the three Tests in Australia. Jonny May was injured then but returned in November, Jack Nowell is in prime form after missing the autumn series through injury, Marland Yarde started England’s last match against Australia and Semesa Rokoduguni cannot get into the squad despite scoring some outrageous tries for Bath in recent weeks.
Watson does have the advantage of versatility, something that influences Jones’s make-up of his match-day 23. While all his starts for England have been on the wing, last season Bath used him mainly as a full-back, where he made 13 appearances compared with two on the wing. His only start at full-back this season was at Newcastle this month, but he has made only six in all because of injuries.
“As long as I am on the pitch I am content,” he said. “I have learned a lot from playing both positions: it is key for a winger to know where your full-back is going to be in certain situations and as a full-back who has played on the wing, you know where you want them. Long-term, I would like to see myself as a full-back but for the time being I am content to play on the wing and I am really enjoying my rugby.
“I like counterattacking and there is a lot of freedom to be able to run back with the ball and make decisions on the hoof from full-back, which is why I like playing there. I have spoken to Eddie about it, but I am in the squad first and foremost as a wing and that is where most of the discussions have been centred on. We have had conversations about full-back, but they will remain private. It is favourable to be versatile because you have a better chance of making the 23, but you always want to be starting ahead of sitting on the bench. That is my drive.”
Versatility is a theme in the backs chosen by Jones for the Six Nations with Watson, Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell, Alex Lozowski, Nowell and Henry Slade all used to playing in more than one position. As the game becomes more open because of the way the breakdown is now refereed and with World Rugby’s new directives forcing tacklers to lower their point of contact, the Six Nations champions have a wealth of attacking potential and numerous options.
“England, like Bath, have a team ethos where individuals do not put themselves first,” said Watson. “Every time we meet up there is a lot of energy in the camp and no matter how low key the sessions are everyone is amped up and ready to go. It is a great environment; you wanted to be tested in an international set-up and be expected to work as hard as possible. If you go backwards, you are quickly overtaken and I have learned to maximise every little thing from a training session.
“I was out for 13 weeks this season, which is not ideal, especially as it happened in training. I tried to make a negative a positive as much as I could, having one-to-one training with Jonas and working on other skills. I feel better for it and when you get injured, you have to use the time so that you come back a better player having worked on areas of your game that needed improving. I am not just quicker now, but I have a different outlook on running. Sometimes you need to get a fresh perspective on things.”
Watson goes into the Six Nations having made four appearances for his club since returning from injury. “My focus was on getting back into the Bath side and playing well,” he said. “I had had a long lay-off and needed to get back to my best form. Our target is to win the championship again: you have to go into a campaign with a goal like that and we want to keep our winning run going. Our attention is on our first opponents, France, and I am not thinking about the Lions with that tour a long way off. It will be a strong squad with Scotland, underrated I thought last year, having a strong set-up, Ireland fresh from beating New Zealand and the experience of Wales is unbelievable.”
Watson, like Yarde and Jonathan Joseph, is a product of London Irish’s academy. So, too, is his older brother Marcus, the Newcastle wing who missed the match against Bath three weeks ago because of a hamstring strain. “I would like to have gone head-to-head with Marcus. Who is the quicker? Do I lie? I think he is, probably, but we have not raced yet so I cannot say 100%.” On your Marcus, get set …
