England explain why Watson is getting his first start in 23 months

Steve Borthwick has explained why he felt compelled to give Anthony Watson his first England start since March 2021. It was a behind-closed-doors round five Guinness Six Nations match in Dublin when the soon-to-be 29-year-old was last chosen as a starter for his country, but he will now bridge that 23-month gap when he runs out in Cardiff on Saturday to face Wales.

After being a British and Irish Lions pick for their tour to South Africa, Watson suffered a serious knee injury when playing for Bath against Saracens on October 2021. He never played again for that club and it was at Leicester, following his signing last summer by Borthwick, when he eventually got back on the pitch.

He has so far played 11 games for the Tigers and with Borthwick having since moved on to succeed Eddie Jones as England coach, Watson was given 15 minutes off the Test bench in the recent round one Six Nations loss to Scotland at Twickenham.

The winger was then omitted from the round two match day squad that took on Italy, but he is now included for an England start against Wales after Ollie Hassell-Collins, the wearer of the No11 jersey in the two opening rounds games, picked up a knee injury and wasn’t included in the 36-strong squad named last Sunday to prepare for this weekend’s game.

That squad number was cut to 26 on Tuesday evening and Watson has now filled the vacancy left by Hassell-Collins for the Principality Stadium visit, the only change to the starting XV confirmed on Thursday from the win over Italy. Asked to explain what had caught his eye about Watson, who is named ahead of sub Henry Arundell, Borthwick said: “With Anthony, I was fortunate to be part of the coaching team here a few years ago with Anthony playing so well.

“He continued in the England team after I had left and then there were a couple of setbacks. Then I signed him. I took the opportunity to sign him in club rugby and from the day he walked in (at Leicester) he was magnificent - the professionalism, the way he prepared himself, the way he helped the younger players, how much he cares as a professional. I use that word a lot. Sometimes from the outside, you don’t see how much how these guys care. He cares deeply about this team, playing for England. It’s great to have him.

“He adds to the mix in those outside backs where we are starting to build some competition for places and depth and that ability to change tactically. You see that with what we have in the backline bench to come on there and have the ability to change the game tactically, to play a different way.

“The main thing is I'm asking all the players is to do things a bit differently. I’m asking them to train a bit differently, play a bit differently, conduct themselves a bit differently. Anthony, along with all the players, has embraced that. We are trying to rebuild a team and these guys have really grabbed hold of it and are driving it forward. It’s brilliant to have Anthony as part of it along with all these terrific young players.”