Who is Anthony Watson: Ten things you should know about the England wing

Sarah Rendell

Find out more about the England star who is comfortable at full-back or wing

Who is Anthony Watson: Ten things you should know about the England wing

Anthony Watson made his England debut in November 2014 at Twickenham against New Zealand and has gone on to make a half-century of appearances for his country.

Here are more facts about the Bath star, who can play on the wing or at full-back…

Ten things you should know about Anthony Watson

1. Anthony Watson was born on 26 February 1994 in Ashford, England. He stands at 6ft 2in (1.88m) and weighs 14st 13lb (95kg).

2. He joined Premiership club Bath in the summer of 2013 having previously played for London Irish.

3. Watson was part of the British & Irish Lions squad that toured New Zealand in 2017. He played in all three Test matches against the All Blacks and the series ended in a draw after each team won one match and then drew the third.

4. He started all five games of England’s Six Nations Grand Slam in 2016 and was involved in the title wins in 2017 and 2020 too.

He has also represented his country in two World Cup campaigns and was a part of Eddie Jones’s side that lost 32-12 to South Africa in the 2019 final.

5. He became engaged to his long-term partner Alyse Miller in December 2019 and the couple have a son together called Kai, who was born in November 2020.

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6. He had thought of switching to the NFL but decided to focus on rugby after an Achilles injury sustained in 2018 kept him out of the game for 13 months.

Watson told The Mirror: “After what I’ve been through this past year, I realise I’ve got to maximise what I do in rugby.

“There are so many things I can learn from other sports, including NFL, in terms of footwork and stuff like that. A lot of their skills are transferable.”

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7. Watson has a few famous relatives. His two brothers, Marcus and Callum, play for Wasps and Richmond respectively, while he also has an uncle, Mark, who was a Concorde pilot.

8. He won his 50th cap for England in the 23-20 victory against France in the 2021 Six Nations.

He said post-match: “I don’t know how to respond to it because I try to take each game as it comes. Maybe I’ll start to reflect tonight, it might be at the end of this campaign but I think I’ll be happy with it once I get the time to do that.”

9. England legend Jonny Wilkinson was a childhood hero of Watson’s. “He was never cocky, never arrogant, always under-the-radar humble,” Watson has said of the fly-half.

10. Jason Robinson was another player Watson looked up to and the World Cup-winning winger gave him some advice at a dinner that has stuck with him.

“He talked to me about backing my instincts,” Watson told The Times. “It was something that resonated with me because it’s something I might have lost my way with over the last 18 months, getting a bit bogged down with doing the right thing in the right areas as opposed to backing myself, knowing what I’m good at and sticking to it.

“I’ve definitely listened to that piece of advice from Jason. Making your strengths even stronger. You sometimes forget about those pieces of advice. It’s good to go back and embed it.”

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