I want the Glasgow boys to play well in the final ... and LOSE
EDINBURGH STAR WATSON CAN’T SHAKE OFF INTER-CITY RIVALRY AHEAD OF WARRIORS’ EUROPEAN GLORY BID
THE No 7 has played a big part in the sporting life of Hamish Watson. He wears the number on the back of his shirt for Edinburgh and Scotland, and idolises Cristiano Ronaldo, who wore seven for his beloved Manchester United. He also hopes fellow ‘7’ Rory Darge does well for Glasgow Warriors in the European Challenge Cup final against Toulon on Friday. Well, almost.
‘With my Scotland hat on, I want Glasgow to lose. With my Edinburgh club hat on, I want Glasgow to lose,’ said Watson, with a clear glint in his eye.
‘I want the Scotland boys to have good games in the Challenge Cup final, play well and lose. I am a competitive guy. I am not going to sit here and lie and say I want Glasgow to win.
‘I want these guys to have good games, be injury-free and come into the Scotland camp firing. That is the nicest I can be about it.’
Watson is backing Darge — his main rival for the Scotland seven jersey at the forthcoming World Cup — to have a big impact against Toulon after spotting his talent when he was still an academy player at Edinburgh and starting to come through the ranks.
The 23-year-old has been in such great form that he was yesterday named McCrea’s Warrior of the month after a series of top-class displays.
‘We used to play a highlights reel of what the young boys had been up to with their clubs in the Edinburgh changing room every Monday,’ said Watson (below). ‘There used to be clips from the club stuff when Rory was playing at Melrose and I could see then his quality as a young guy against full-grown adults. I knew he was always going to make it.
‘For some reason, though, Cockers (Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill) decided to shift him on to Glasgow Warriors and, since then, he has been class for Glasgow. Most of the boys who worked with him knew he was going to be a top, top player, too.
‘Yes, he is one of my rivals with Scotland but that is what you want. No one in this Scotland squad can rest on their laurels. It will be really hard-fought for places on the plane for the World Cup and we will push each other on and that is great for the squad.’
Watson made clear that it was important that Edinburgh appointed a new head coach soon for the good of the players after Mike Blair stepped down at the end of the season. The only thing the squad have been told is that Steve Diamond, who was brought in as a rugby consultant near the end of the season to help Blair, will be taking pre-season training.
‘I have not heard too much about the coaching set up for next year,’ he said. ‘Dimes (Diamond) will look after pre-season but whether he stays on after that I am not sure anybody has been told. It is all a bit up in the air but. hopefully, we get it sorted and the players know who they are working under for the next few seasons.
‘Our season has definitely been up and down and, in parts, we have not been good enough for the squad we have got here at Edinburgh. We have been poor at times.
‘There is nobody in the squad saying we have had a good season. We have got some top players in the squad but, for whatever reason, it has not gelled this season compared to last. We are not losing too many players and have a good squad of boys but we have to get it right next season as it was not good enough.’
Watson was speaking at BT Murrayfield to promote a pre-season friendly between his beloved Manchester United and Lyon at the national rugby stadium on Wednesday, July 19.
A lifelong Manchester United fan, he laughs at the suggestion his boyhood dream was to run out in the number seven jersey at Old Trafford like his hero Ronaldo.
‘I always knew the level of my own football ability and I was never good enough to make it pro,’ he said. ‘I back my left foot but I don’t have a right foot which was my problem. I always knew rugby was the path for me and never thought I would make it pro in football despite Ronaldo being my hero.’
Exclusive presale tickets for Manchester United v lyon at BT Murrayfield will be available starting May 17, with general on-sale ticket access opening on May 18 at 12pm.
Ticket prices start at £30 for adults and £15 for Under-16s for the match on Wednesday, July 19 [kick-off 2pm].
Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster or Ticketek.
I am not going to sit here and lie and say I want Glasgow to win