‘I could barely walk – so I am not going to waste the years ahead’
Anthony Watson fought back from injury to star at the World Cup – but is still striving for success
Moments after the final whistle blew to confirm a 19-7 victory over New Zealand, the enormity of England’s achievement – and that of the part he played – washed over Anthony Watson.
Having helped secure his side’s place in the World Cup final, the wing was both exhausted and overcome with emotion. Twelve months previously, he had been hobbling around as his left Achilles tendon healed. In the darkest times, he was dogged with doubt. Fortunately for Watson, Manu Tuilagi was nearby. The pair embraced on the Yokohama pitch.
“He just said, ‘I know, I know, I know,’” remembers Watson. “And he did.”
Watson peeled himself away from Tuilagi, himself another remarkable comeback story, before spending 30 seconds composing himself and wiping away tears. Cameras captured everything.
“The next day my Twitter was going mad,” continues Watson, who made Eddie Jones’s World Cup squad on the back of just three Premiership starts in 2019 before reasserting himself in the firstchoice side. “I checked my phone and saw someone had said, ‘This got us right in the feels’. I knew exactly what it was. I have tried playing it off like it was blood in my eye but, yeah … not my finest moment. It was thinking about where I’d come from. A year ago, I could barely walk without a limp and I was struggling to lift my heel off the ground. I couldn’t do a calf-raise.
I was panicking about whether I could be the same player.
“To go between there and winning a World Cup semi in that short period of time just hit me.”
One of England’s most impressive players in Japan, Watson spent the tournament beating opponents across the ground and in the air. He carried for 395 metres over six appearances, occasionally stepping up as first-receiver from scrums and line-outs. He was explosive on the ball and sharp off it.
However, the 32-12 loss to South Africa the following weekend gives Watson cause to pause before a lukewarm evaluation of his individual contribution.
“I just wanted to play my role in a successful team – a team that won the World Cup. And I wasn’t able to do that. There are still areas, a lot of them, for me to improve and I know a lot of players will say the same thing. For me, [praise] doesn’t really count for much.
“It’s all about moving on to the next thing and on to the next thing. Sport doesn’t wait for anyone.”
Before returning to rugby, a brief holiday in Canada with Kyle Sinckler and Ellis Genge brought unexpected peace and quiet. “We went to Toronto,” Watson says. “We’d heard it was a pretty lively place. But it turned out those were reviews from the summer.
“In the winter, when it’s minus six, it’s not the busiest place in the world. We braved the cold outside for a grand total of three or four hours in five days. Apart from that we just chilled out – watched TV, watched NFL Sunday, slept a whole lot.”
The rest has re-energised him. Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper says Watson looks “excited and enthused” for club duty. Intriguingly for England matters, he is likely to feature at full-back. However, everyone will need to be wary of workload.
Watson initially tore his Achilles in March 2018, midway through a busy campaign on the back of the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. He is uncertain of any specific reintegration strategy and shrugs at the question of how he will be managed during 2019-20.
“I couldn’t tell you. I just want to play rugby,” he says.
Tomorrow evening’s Champions Cup tie against Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop will host Watson’s return. A 17-16 loss to Ulster means the game is already close to a must-win for Bath. Watson, 25, has punctuated his CV with two World Cups and three Lions Tests. More of both will be there for the taking. He underlined his class over the past three months. It feels reasonable to ask how he will keep the fire burning.
“I’m not worried about my internal motivation,” Watson responds. “That won’t go away. That’s a combination of the way I was raised and the way I am. I’m not worried about losing that drive, because I don’t want to waste these years ahead of me.
“I don’t want to look back at 34 or 35 and think, ‘Maybe I should have tried harder at this, maybe I didn’t stay out training long enough’. I have to maximise the time I have got, because it’s a short career.”
Bath offered Watson a new deal during his 13 months of rehabilitation, prolonging his stay in the West Country until at least 2021. He believes such trust deserves payback, in the form of overdue silverware. “Getting a contract extension while I was out with a double Achilles rupture obviously means the coaches showed a lot of faith in me. I’ve been at the club for six or seven years now and we haven’t won anything. I’m desperate to do that.”
Will there be any sympathy if Watson comes across Harlequins tighthead, England colleague and travel buddy Sinckler tomorrow? “I’ll be flying into him with no remorse whatsoever … but if he runs straight at me it could be a difficult situation!”
‘I am not worried about my internal motivation – that won’t go away. It’s the way I am’