Anthony Watson (rugby union)
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Birth name | Anthony Watson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 26 February 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Ashford, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 95 kg (14 st 13 lb; 209 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | St George's College, Weybridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Marcus Watson (brother) Mark Watson (Concorde Pilot) (Uncle) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Anthony Watson (born 26 February 1994) is an English professional rugby union player who plays wing or full-back for Bath Rugby in the English Premiership and England. He attended St George's College, Weybridge in Surrey, where he was vice-captain of the rugby team.
Club career
He made his debut against Newcastle Falcons and became the youngest player ever to appear for his first club, London Irish in a Premiership match. He scored his first tries for the club in their victory over Stade Montois on 20 October 2012.[1]
On 25 April 2013, it was announced that Watson was to move with fellow London Irish academy product David Sisi to Bath next season.[2] On 9 September 2014, he signed a new deal with Bath to keep him at the club until 2017.
International career
England Rugby
Watson played for England in the under 20s 6 Nations Championship in January/February at the age of 17. He finished as the tournament's second top try scorer behind London Irish team mate, Marland Yarde, where the two formed a lethal combination in the England back three.[citation needed]
At the age of just 19, after a string of impressive performances for Bath at full-back, Watson was called into the England squad to train with them before their autumn international against Argentina on 9 November 2013.[3] On 9 January 2014, Watson was named in the England's 35 man squad for the 2014 Six Nations competition after his impressive performances for Bath Rugby this season.
Watson made his England debut in a non-cap friendly against the Crusaders as part of their tour against New Zealand.[4] 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]
Watson was named in Stuart Lancaster's 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. He was picked to start in all four of England's games, scoring three tries in total as the hosts crashed out in the group stages.[6]
In the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, Watson scored the final try as England beat Australia by 40-16.[7]
British and Irish Lions
Watson was named as one of the 41 British and Irish Lions to tour New Zealand in summer 2017.[8] He started in all three tests and was one of the stars of the tour.
International tries
- As of 19 October 2019 [9]
References
- ^ "Home - London Irish". Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ "Bath Rugby sign David Sisi and Anthony Watson from London Irish - Bath Chronicle". Bath Chronicle.
- ^ "Bath Rugby full-back Anthony Watson added to England squad for Argentina contest". Bath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014.
- ^ "England against Crusaders in New Zealand". Sky Sports. 17 June 2014.
- ^ "Anthony Watson England debut". ESPN scrum. 8 November 2014.
- ^ Twickenham, Tom Fordyce Chief sports writer at. "England out of Rugby World Cup as Australia win 33-13". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
- ^ Fordyce, Tom. "England beat Australia 40-16 to make Rugby World Cup semi-finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "Lions 2017 squad announcement". The Guardians. 14 April 2017.
- ^ "Anthony Watson". 7 July 2019.
- ^ "Six Nations: Wales 16-21 England". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "RBS Six Nations Championship: England v France". BBC Sport. 21 March 2015.
- ^ "England beat France 19-14 in Rugby World Cup warm-up". BBC Sport. 15 August 2015.
- ^ "England beat Ireland 21-13 in Rugby World Cup warm-up". BBC Sport. 5 September 2015.
- ^ "England 13-33 Australia". BBC Sport. 3 October 2015.