After having his World Cup ended prematurely by injury, Hamish Watson admits he has surprised himself with the speed of his return to the field.
And the Scotland flanker is now looking to make up for lost time with the 2020 Guinness Six Nations around the corner.
In the week that John Barclay announced his retirement from international rugby, Scotland’s back-row options have been handed a serious boost with Watson’s return.
The openside got through the full 80 minutes last Friday as Edinburgh downed Munster in Cork for the first time in 15 years.
And with a European double header against Wasps up next, Watson is eager to get back to top speed as soon as possible.
“It’s great to come back and have some tough games. They’ll test me and test the team as well. Hopefully I can get back to playing well and put myself forward for the Six Nations,” he said, after a serious-looking knee injury ended his World Cup during Scotland’s opening defeat to Ireland.
“If you’ve ever done your knee before you know straight away and I felt it stretch and felt something snap a bit.
“At that point I was just thinking ‘I hope it’s not my ACL’, which is what most players think. As soon as you do your knee you think the worst. With any injury, you think ‘how long will this keep me out for?’
“When I got into the changing room they said ‘Your ACL feels intact, we think it’s the medial’. Then I went for a scan straight after the game and found out it was just medial-ligament injury and though it was pretty gutting missing my first World Cup, it was a bit of a silver lining that it was only a 10-to-12-week injury and I would be back for Edinburgh pretty soon.”
And after some family time and rehabilitation, Watson was back on the field last Friday.
And with the likes of Jamie Ritchie and Magnus Bradbury competing in Edinburgh’s back row, not to mention Fiji’s Bill Mata and breakout youngster Luke Crosbie, Watson is itching to hit top form.
“Having my wife and daughter at home helps as well – if that had been four or five years ago, coming back to an empty flat, it would have been a bit bleak just after leaving the World Cup. It was nice to have them around when I came home,” he added.
“(The Munster game) was maybe a week earlier than we thought, but we were struggling a bit in the back row and I felt good to go. It was a conversation I had with Cockers that I felt good to go.
“I was happy to get 80 under my belt, that was the main thing, and not feel my knee too much, which was good and we got a win, which was nice, away from home.”
