For other people named Anthony Watson, see Anthony Watson (disambiguation).

Anthony Kenneth Chisom Watson (born 26 February 1994) is an English former professional rugby union player who last played as a wing or fullback for Leicester Tigers and the England national team.[2][3][4]

Early life

Watson attended St George's College, Weybridge in Surrey, where he was vice-captain of the rugby team.[4] His brother is Benetton winger Marcus Watson.[5]

Club career

In September 2011 Watson made his professional debut against Newcastle Falcons and became the youngest player to ever appear for London Irish in a Premiership match.[6] He scored his first tries for the club in their victory over Stade Montois on 20 October 2012.[7][8]

On 25 April 2013 it was announced that Watson would join Bath for the following season.[9] In his first campaign at the club he scored a try in the final of the EPCR Challenge Cup as Bath finished runners up to Northampton Saints at Cardiff Arms Park.[10] The next season saw Watson start in their Premiership final defeat to Saracens.[11]

On 12 May 2022 Watson signed for Leicester Tigers.[12] He made his debut for Leicester in a 51-18 loss to Saracens on 1 October 2022. On 18 August 2023 it was confirmed that Watson had left Leicester after failing to agree a new contract. Instead he became employed by the Rugby Football Union. Watson signed a new contract back at Leicester on 2 November 2023[3]

International career

England

Watson scored a try for the England U20 team as they defeated Ireland in the final round of the 2012 Six Nations Under 20s Championship to win the tournament.[13] He was also a member of the side that retained the 2013 Six Nations Under 20s Championship.[14] Later that year Watson was selected for the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship scoring a try in their semi-final victory over New Zealand and started in the final as England defeated Wales to become world junior champions for the first time.[15][16]

At the age of nineteen, after a string of impressive performances for Bath at full-back, Watson was called into the senior England squad by coach Stuart Lancaster to train with them during their autumn international series in November 2013.[17][18] In January 2014 he again trained with the squad during the 2014 Six Nations Championship and later that month scored a try for the England Saxons in a defeat against Ireland Wolfhounds.[19][20]

Watson was included in the senior squad for their 2014 tour of New Zealand and scored a try on his England debut in a non-cap tour match against Crusaders.[21][22] On 8 November 2014, Watson made his official test debut for England, from the bench, losing to New Zealand 21-24 as part of their 2014 Autumn Internationals.[5][23]

Watson scored his first tries for England against Wales and France during the 2015 Six Nations.[24][25] He was included in the squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and scored in warm-up fixtures against France and Ireland.[26][27] He was selected to start in all four of England's pool games at the tournament, scoring tries against Australia and Uruguay as the hosts failed to reach the knockout phase.[28][29]

Watson was selected by new coach Eddie Jones for the 2016 Six Nations Championship and recorded tries against Ireland and Wales.[30][31] He also scored in the final round as England beat France to achieve their first Grand Slam in over a decade.[32] Later that year he scored a try against Wales and then started in all three victories on their 2016 tour of Australia.[33][34] The following year saw Watson score a try in the penultimate round of the 2017 Six Nations against Scotland and then start in the final game of the competition as England missed out on a consecutive grand slam with defeat away to Ireland which also brought an end to a record equalling eighteen successive Test victories.[35][36]

Watson was included in the squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and scored a try in a warm-up game against Italy at St James' Park.[37] He scored the last try of the quarter-final against Australia and also played in the semi-final victory over New Zealand.[38][39] He started in the final as England were defeated by South Africa to finish runners up.[40]

Watson scored a try against Wales during the 2020 Six Nations and then started the final round victory in Italy which meant England won the tournament.[41][42] Later that year he started in the final of the Autumn Nations Cup as England defeated France in extra time to win the competition.[43] Watson scored tries against Italy and Wales during the 2021 Six Nations.[44][45] Later in the tournament he scored a try against France on his fiftieth appearance for England.[46]

British & Irish Lions

Watson was named as one of the 41 British & Irish Lions players that toured New Zealand in 2017.[47] He started in all three tests as the series ended all square.[48]

Watson was also selected by coach Warren Gatland for the 2021 Lions tour of South Africa.[49] He started the first two tests; winning the first and losing the second.[50][51] He was dropped for the final match which saw the Lions lose the series 2-1.[52][53]

Career statistics

List of international tries

As of 25 February 2023[2]
Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  Wales Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2015 Six Nations 6 February 2015 Win 21 – 16[24]
2  France London, England Twickenham Stadium 2015 Six Nations 23 March 2015 Win 55 – 35[25]
3  France London, England Twickenham Stadium 2015 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up 15 August 2015 Win 19 – 14[26]
4
5  Ireland London, England Twickenham Stadium 2015 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up 5 September 2015 Win 21 – 13[27]
6  Australia London, England Twickenham Stadium 2015 Rugby World Cup 3 October 2015 Loss 13 – 33[28]
7  Uruguay Manchester, England City of Manchester Stadium 2015 Rugby World Cup 10 October 2015 Win 60 – 3[29]
8
9  Ireland London, England Twickenham Stadium 2016 Six Nations 27 February 2016 Win 21 – 10[30]
10  Wales London, England Twickenham Stadium 2016 Six Nations 12 March 2016 Win 25 – 21[31]
11  France Paris, France Stade de France 2016 Six Nations 19 March 2016 Win 31 – 21[32]
12  Wales London, England Twickenham Stadium 2016 Summer Tour Warm-Up 29 May 2016 Win 27 – 13[33]
13  Scotland London, England Twickenham Stadium 2017 Six Nations 11 March 2017 Win 61 – 21[35]
14  Italy Rome, Italy Stadio Olimpico 2018 Six Nations 4 February 2018 Win 46 – 15
15
16  Italy Newcastle, England St James' Park 2019 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up 6 September 2019 Win 37 – 0[37]
17  Australia Ōita, Japan Ōita Bank Dome 2019 Rugby World Cup 19 October 2019 Win 40 – 16[38]
18  Wales London, England Twickenham Stadium 2020 Six Nations 7 March 2020 Win 33 – 30[41]
19  Italy London, England Twickenham Stadium 2021 Six Nations 13 February 2021 Win 41 – 18[44]
20
21  Wales Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2021 Six Nations 27 February 2021 Loss 24 – 40[45]
22  France London, England Twickenham Stadium 2021 Six Nations 13 March 2021 Win 23 – 20[46]
23  Wales Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2023 Six Nations 25 February 2023 Win 20 – 10

Honours

England
Bath

References

  1. ^ a b "Anthony Watson Player Profile". leicestertigers.com. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "ESPN profile". ESPN Scrum. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b Kitson, Rob (18 August 2023). "Anthony Watson: 'My desire has always been to play for England for as long as I can". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Anthony Watson". England Rugby. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b Rendell, Sarah (8 April 2021). "Who is Anthony Watson: Ten things you should know about the England wing". Rugby World. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  6. ^ Manicom, Alan (21 October 2011). "Watson to make his first start for London Irish". Berkshire Live. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Home - London Irish". Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Amlin Challenge Cup: London Irish 69-26 Mont de Marsan". BBC Sport. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Bath get London Irish duo Anthony Watson and David Sisi". BBC Sport. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  10. ^ a b Osborne, Chris (22 May 2014). "Amlin Challenge Cup final: Bath 16-30 Northampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b Hassan, Nabil (30 May 2015). "Premiership final: Bath 16-28 Saracens". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Leicester Tigers: Bath wing Anthony Watson & Wasps' Jimmy Gopperth among five new signings". BBC Sport. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Ireland beaten all ends up". The Irish Times. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Six Nations 2013: Wales U20 15-28 England U20". BBC Sport. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  15. ^ Standley, James (18 June 2013). "England Under-20s beat New Zealand to reach world final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  16. ^ Standley, James (23 June 2013). "Junior World Championship: Wales U20 15-23 England U20". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Bath Rugby full-back Anthony Watson added to England squad for Argentina contest". Bath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014.
  18. ^ "Anthony Watson called up to train with England squad". BBC Sport. 3 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  19. ^ "George Ford replaces Toby Flood in England Six Nations squad". BBC Sport. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  20. ^ "'A' International: England Saxons 8-14 Ireland Wolfhounds". BBC Sport. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Tour of New Zealand: England take on Super Rugby franchise Crusaders in Christchurch". Sky Sports. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  22. ^ Standley, James (17 June 2014). "England beat Crusaders 38-7 as Danny Cipriani shines". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  23. ^ "All Blacks' class tells at Twickenham". ESPN Scrum. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  24. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (6 February 2015). "Six Nations 2015: Wales 16-21 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  25. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (21 March 2015). "Six Nations 2015: England 55-35 France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  26. ^ a b Standley, James (15 August 2015). "England beat France 19–14 in Rugby World Cup warm-up". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  27. ^ a b Standley, James (5 September 2015). "Rugby World Cup 2015: England beat Ireland in final warm-up". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  28. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (3 October 2015). "England out of Rugby World Cup as Australia win 33-13". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  29. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (10 October 2015). "Rugby World Cup 2015: England 60-3 Uruguay". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  30. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (27 February 2016). "Six Nations 2016: England beat Ireland to go top of table". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  31. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (12 March 2016). "Six Nations 2016: England 25-21 Wales". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  32. ^ a b c Fordyce, Tom (19 March 2016). "Six Nations 2016: England win Grand Slam with France victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  33. ^ a b Dirs, Ben (29 May 2016). "England 27-13 Wales: Hosts score five tries but Ford misfires". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  34. ^ Standley, James (25 June 2016). "England beat Australia 44-40 in final Test to complete series whitewash". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  35. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (11 March 2017). "Six Nations 2017: England 61-21 Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  36. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (18 March 2017). "Six Nations 2017: Ireland 13-9 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  37. ^ a b Grey, Becky (6 September 2019). "Rugby World Cup: England grind out warm-up win over Italy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  38. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (19 October 2019). "England beat Australia 40–16 to make Rugby World Cup semi-finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  39. ^ Fordyce, Tom (26 October 2019). "England 19–7 New Zealand: Eddie Jones' side beat All Blacks to reach World Cup final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  40. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (2 November 2019). "England 12–32 South Africa: Springboks win World Cup for record-equalling third time". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  41. ^ a b Fordyce, Tom (7 March 2020). "Six Nations: England beat Wales 33-30 despite Manu Tuilagi red card". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  42. ^ a b Grey, Becky (31 October 2020). "Italy 5–34 England: Visitors' victory proves enough to win Six Nations title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  43. ^ a b Henson, Mike (6 December 2020). "Autumn Nations Cup: England beat France in sudden death". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  44. ^ a b Grey, Becky (13 February 2021). "England 41-18 Italy: Hosts find flashes of flair to bounce back from Scotland defeat". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  45. ^ a b Griffiths, Gareth (27 February 2021). "Six Nations: Wales beat England 40-24 to take Triple Crown". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  46. ^ a b Henson, Mike (13 March 2021). "England 23-20 France: Maro Itoje try earns England dramatic Six Nations win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  47. ^ Glendenning, Barry (19 April 2017). "Lions 2017 squad announcement". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  48. ^ Fordyce, Tom (8 July 2017). "British and Irish Lions draw 15-15 with New Zealand as series ends level at 1-1". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  49. ^ "Warren Gatland names 2021 British & Irish Lions squad". British & Irish Lions. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  50. ^ Henson, Mike (24 July 2021). "British and Irish Lions: Lions fight back to clinch series opener". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  51. ^ Grey, Becky (31 July 2021). "South Africa 27-9 British and Irish Lions: Springboks level series in fiery encounter". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  52. ^ Jones, Chris (3 August 2021). "British and Irish Lions: Warren Gatland makes sweeping changes for third Test". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  53. ^ Grey, Becky (7 August 2021). "South Africa 19-16 British and Irish Lions: Morne Steyn's late penalty wins series". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Watson_(rugby_union)
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