Watson a man on a mission

The English-born Scotsman would love to make history at Twickenham and he is confident it can be done, hears Lewis Stuart

WHEN you spent your early years living in England but desperate to show how Scottish you are – we are talking a Saltire on the bedroom wall here – then playing in London against England has got to be special.

Hardly a surprise, then, that Hamish Watson is a man on a mission. After being dropped from last week’s starting XV he had probably played his way back into the side anyway, but word that John Hardie, who had ousted him from the starting lineup, had been ruled out for the rest of the RBS 6 Nations Championship, cemented it. He may not be the first name down on the team-sheet for next week, but he is not far off it.

“Hards [Hardie] was doing well until he got injured, but when you’ve started the first two and then come off the bench you – like everybody on the bench – want to prove that you should be starting. I just tried to come on and make a difference,” Watson said.

He was everywhere, right in the heart of the action, which was all the more creditable when you consider that Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric, his immediate opponents, are both British & Irish Lions and he outplayed them both. A repeat performance this week in the Calcutta Cup game at Twickenham, and who knows – maybe the Scots can dare to dream.

This will be a totally different challenge for Watson. While Wales are all about fast flankers getting to the breakdown and making a nuisance of themselves, the England back row favours power over subtlety. It will be like going back to the old days when the likes of the Calder twins, Jim and Finlay, or John Jeffrey were up against the likes of Tim Rodber or Dean Richards.

“They’ve got quite a big back row,” Watson reflected. “Playing against Warburton and Tipuric, two of the world’s best sevens, turnover-wise, presented a different challenge and it will be different again with England.

“When Barcs [John Barclay] plays at six, we have a good person over ball with him as well. He started as a seven and can now play across the whole back row, so all our back rows are pretty good tacklers and can slow ball. That’s something we will concentrate on.”

It will be one of the many game-changing battles but it is worth remembering that when Scotland last won in Twickenham, Jim Calder, David Leslie and John Beattie were in the back row with Iain Paxton, another back row by trade, packing down alongside Tom Smith in the second row. That too was

a pack relying on pace and skill to counter a bigger, more powerful England unit, and on that occasion it worked. Can it happen again? Watson reckons the miracle result could happen.

“It’s a massive opportunity for us,” he said. “We haven’t won there since 1983 and the boys are really excited about this one. It’s a great opportunity to beat England. They’re going for their own record [equalling New Zealand’s 17 wins in a row]. This is a chance to end all that, which our fans will obviously love. There is a lot of pressure on their team at the moment going for that record.”

Though born in Manchester, Watson has always seen himself as Scottish, famously pinning his colours to the wall when he stuck the Saltire up in his bedroom, and playing his age-group rugby as an Exile in the dark blue.

“I’ve supported Scotland pretty much all my life, certainly since I was eight, so this will be a big game – but big just because we haven’t beaten them for ages and not because I lived there for a long time growing up,” he insisted. “I just take it like any other match. I’ve never been to watch a game at Twickenham. It’s not like ‘ oh, God! I want to get them’.”

After a nightmare start to his international career – sin-binned in the final minute against Italy and able only to watch as Scotland went down to defeat at Murrayfield when the visitors scored a last-second try – he has fought back from that and the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup, to establish himself.

For the English-born Scotsman, what could be better than making history at the home of English rugby?