TOUGH BRUV
Watson warns sibling Marcus: My Grand Slam will trump your Olympic silver.. I’ll go one better
ANTHONY WATSON is out to “trump” his brother’s Olympic silver medal when he returns to the England team for their date with history.
Never mind the share of a £1million squad bonus which is riding on a Grand Slam in Dublin tomorrow, it is the glory the Bath wing really wants.
He knows you cannot put a price on the precious piece of silver older brother Marcus brought back from Rio after Team GB stunned the rugby sevens world by reaching the Olympic final.
But he is also aware that back-to-back Six Nations clean sweeps and a world record for consecutive Test wins would balance the family ledger.
Watson, 23, said: “Seeing Marcus go to Brazil and achieve what he and the team did at the Olympics was a massively proud moment for my family and definitely motivated me to strive for more success.
“We have always been very competitive, from swimming to PlayStation. Even now we compare what weights we are lifting. It’s non-stop.
“There’s a point where it’s more banter than serious. But he trumped me with that Olympic silver medal. I need to go one better somehow.”
Watson has had to bide his time as injuries have kept him out of the team since being an ever-present in England’s 2016 Grand Slam and the 3-0 series whitewash of Australia.
It seemed he might miss the party altogether but Elliot Daly’s early head injury against Scotland gave him the chance to get off the bench and score a dazzling try.
And yesterday Eddie Jones rewarded Watson by confirming he starts on the right wing at the Aviva Stadium in place of the unlucky Jack Nowell. “He’s an athletic player, good in the air, has great pace,” said Jones of Watson who, with 13 tries in 25 Tests, averages better than one every two games.
“It was a difficult decision because Jack has been outstanding for us, but Anthony showed on the weekend he’s close to being back at his best.”
If Watson over Nowell was the closest of calls, two other selections threaten to have a massive bearing on the outcome.
The return to England’s starting line-up of No.8 Billy Vunipola is as significant as the absence of Ireland’s injured scrum-half Conor Murray.
Both men are bound for the Lions’ starting XV and their respective fates tilts the balance of this titanic contest England’s way.
Jones hailed Vunipola as a “special sort of player”, while Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton said Murray “would be a loss to any team in the world”.