Anthony Watson exclusive: 'I wouldn't be surprised if England win'

Anthony Watson is feeling hopeful heading into this weekend, he prepares to watch his England teammates take on South Africa at the Allianz Stadium in the third of their four Autumn Nations Series tests.

After narrow losses against New Zealand and Australia in their opening two matches, England head coach Steve Borthwick will be looking to turn the tide as he prepares his side for what is being billed as a rematch of the 2023 World Cup semi-final.

One star, not currently involved in the national set up, Anthony Watson has been giving his thoughts on their current run of form, stating that the boys in white will be gunning for revenge this weekend against South Africa.

“Honestly I think an England win wouldn’t be a massive surprise for me this weekend, I think just from an emotional perspective they will be so fired up for this one given South Africa beat us in the 2019 World Cup final and again in the 2023 semi-final.”

But, before Watson details how England can take victory over the quadruple World Cup-winning Springboks, it’s worth looking at just how the Wallabies achieved victory last week…

Thoughts on Australia’s victory over England at the weekend?

“After the first 15 minutes I thought England were gonna cruise it and it was going to be a 40-point job, to be honest with you”, Watson claimed.

“Australia went into it as underdogs, and I thought they played out of their skin. But when you look at the players on paper, they always had a good team. Although they had a few less well-known players, their backline was held together with a lot of talent.

“I thought Len Ikitau was unreal, Joseph Suaalii in his first game was ridiculous and Tom Wright at the back was quality, and they’re only going to get better. They’ve got Samu Kerevi to come back, big Will Skelton’s got to come back, Marika Koroibete’s not involved.

“There’ve been a few comments that my good friend Ben Youngs made about the Lions tour next year, but I think it’s shaping up to be a great one. From an England perspective, obviously it’s a tough loss when on the balance they probably should have won, but there’s loads of stuff to be positive about. “

Just how good was Joseph Suaalii on his first-ever international start?

“There’s pressure, and then there’s not playing a game of rugby union until you’re setting up at Twickenham in front of 80,000. The way he dealt with it shows what a bloke he is as well as what a player he is.

“He looked like a class act, not flustered by the occasion, you saw his offloading skills, I don’t think he ever got hit backwards so he was always able to keep the ball alive which is so important in today’s game. I thought he was real classy, and again he’s only going to get better.”

How important is it for world rugby to have a good Wallabies side?

“Not only does it improve the Rugby Championship and the viewership and the entertainment behind that, but also it helps the Super Rugby Pacific to have good quality Australian players coming through as more eyes on Australian rugby will bring more talent through. They share a bit of a crossroads with NRL currently, so the Wallabies starting to pick back up is really important for the game over there.

Watson couldn’t quite hold the smirk back for too long on this subject, however, as he joked:

“Sadly, I can’t lie and say that it’s all sunshine and roses though. It was nice to see them suffer a little bit because the Australians have a lot to say for themselves, so I can’t sit here and say I didn’t smile a few times when they got pumped.”

Who has stood out for England so far?

“Marcus Smith has been unreal, and the more he gets the ball the better England look. The biggest step up is his ability to manage games, which has come from being given time in the saddle, but also being around guys like Fordy and Faz and seeing how they operate and what they look for.

“Marcus has always had The X Factor stuff, he’s always been able to step people, he’s always had wheels, he’s always had the show and go, so the only question mark people had over his game was game management and kicking, and his kicking was unreal against the All Blacks. His X-Factor stuff is always going to be there, so I think his game management, putting players through holes, putting the team in the right areas of the pitch is what’s come on leaps and bounds.”

With Immanuel Feyi-Waboso sadly missing from this weekend’s squad, Watson noted the like-for-like replacement of Ollie Sleightholme being the obvious choice:

“I think Sleightholme looked decent when he came on last week with ball in hand. I’d like to see him getting his hands on the ball in a little bit more space than he did. Just give him the ball early and let him get to work because he’s got wheels for days and he can beat defenders. Not to mention he’s that he’s very strong and doesn’t get hit back too often. He’s up there in terms of the most dangerous in open space.”

With South Africa coming up this weekend, what areas do England need to attack?

“Honestly, picking out holes in South Africa’s team is an impossible task. Whenever England get into that red zone, they’ve got to come away with points. I think Scotland coughed up a lot of ball in that area, and had they converted it into points it could have ended up being a different game.

“Taking your opportunities against South Africa is huge, if you don’t, they’ll make you pay because they’re the ultimate pressure team. When you’ve got a pack like they’ve got and the pack on the bench, if you don’t if you don’t put them under pressure then all the pressures on you.”

Anthony notes that the focus is on the forward pack, but the back line is no easier to deal with. Naming the likes of Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and others, Watson exasperatedly asks how you go about dealing with them:

“Once you’ve dealt with the forward pack, you’ve then got to deal with these guys, so how do you do that?”

Realising the need for genuine rugby expertise in the set-up, the 30-year-old picked Elliot Daly out as a vital cog in the England machine for the upcoming match, saying:

“I’d like to see Elliot Daly on the bench this weekend. I think his versatility and his understanding of the game will be really pivotal against a Springbok team with probably the most experienced 23 in world rugby.”

It’s not just Daly that he’s expecting to see back in the squad, however, his old Bath teammate Sam Underhill will be looking to prove a point after missing out on selection for the first two tests.

“Steve is a very thorough coach, and nothing he does is for no reason. I think the game last week and the All Blacks game were heavily linked to turnover attacking and limiting turnovers, and that type of phase play suits a heavy tackle threat, as well as bringing Dombrandt off the bench who’s great in terms of distribution and hitting lines and probably more unstructured play.

“Against South Africa, you want your best defensive team out there against that forward pack, and there’s no one like Sam Underhill.”

Thoughts on the 7-1 Springbok bomb squad selection against Scotland?

 

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“David Flatman on comms was brilliant when he said ‘it looks like a flipping nightclub in Pretoria with the bouncers blocking your entry’. It’s not just the size, it’s the quality of the player that’s coming on. Yasper Wisper’s blood would have been boiling for 50 minutes, ready to come on and rip someone’s head off. The last thing you want to see after blowing for 50 minutes is Jasper coming on. Like ‘Right, now I gotta tackle this bloke as well’.

“Everyone would do the same thing if they had that pack, and I think that it adds a real element to the game. It’s innovative and you see more and more teams doing 6-2 splits now, more than they ever did before and that’s because of Rassie.

“I think it’s brilliant, I think that rugby needs all the innovation that it can get, and Rassie’s at the front of that, for sure.”

Can England defeat the Springboks at Twickenham this weekend?

“Honestly I think an England win wouldn’t be a massive surprise for me this weekend.

“I think just from an emotional perspective they will be so fired up for this one given South Africa beat us in the 2019 World Cup final and again in the 2023 semi-finals. For the guys who went on the Lions tour, they beat us on that too. There’s a lot of pain that South Africa have inflicted, so it’s an easy one to get up for.

“When you add the two losses on the bounce, I think they will be fired up and it’ll be a good hard physical game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if England win.”