Six Nations 2018: Anthony Watson puts Super Bowl plans on hold to help England aim for perfect start in Italy

Exclusive: While every man and his dog has given their choice of Mike Brown or Anthony Watson as England's full-back, the Bath man is simply proud to be involved wherever that may be

Anthony Watson will not look beyond Italy as England aim to win a third consecutive Six Nations title (Getty)

The news this week that Mike Brown has completed a “miracle” recovery to force his way back into Eddie Jones’ selection thoughts will have been disappointing news for some, just because it feels like injury to the England full-back is the only way that we will see what Anthony Watson can do in the No 15 shirt at Test level.

Much has been made of Jones’ preference to keep Brown – his Mr Dependable – at full-back throughout his 23-Test run of games. When you look at his record, it’s hard to argue against that, with Brown starting all-but-two of England’s matches since Jones took charge at the start of 2016.

But the problem for Brown – or rather those clamouring for him to be replaced in the starting line-up for this Sunday’s Six Nations opener against Italy – is that England’s wealth of talent out wide opens the option of playing the attacking-minded Watson at full-back to try and combine him with the likes of Jonny May, Elliot Daly and Jack Nowell.

Having so much competition for the wing berths – Denny Solomona, Nathan Earle and Semesa Rokoduguni are also never far from the whole discussion – has forced the flyers to up their game over the last year, and Watson believes the levels that England’s wide men operate at can still go up even further.

“I feel like the strength in depth in that position for England is definitely of good quality across the board,” Watson tells The Independent. “I think that everyone is striving to try and improve across all aspects of their game, and I think there’s more to come from that group.”

But in order to accommodate all of those talents, Watson would have to move to full-back at the expense of Brown. It’s something that he’s regularly discussed, having played at both wing and full-back for Bath, and he’s expressed his willingness to play in either shirt when it comes to the international stage given that he doesn’t feel that his attacking threat is diminished in either position.

“For me personally, no, to be able to play both positions, they’re very interchangeable and there’s not that much different between playing full-back to playing wing,” Watson explains. “It’ll just be little things here and there but in terms of mindset and things like that, in doesn’t change how I affect my approach to the game.

“I wouldn’t say you have to change the way you communicate with the wings, I’d say there’s more onus on you to constantly be speaking to your wingers whereas if you’re on the wing you’ve got to constantly be looking up and communicating with your full-back, so it’s just an increase in numbers that you’ve got to talk to, as opposed to the amount.”

Yet the likelihood is that when Jones announces his line-up on Friday morning, Watson will still be on the wing so long as Brown has passed all the tests required following the blurred vision that he suffered from last week, the result of a training ground head knock leaving him unable to train while the squad were in Portugal.

Much to Watson’s delight though, the prospect of him being left out is minimal given that he is widely considered one of the best wings currently in the international game. His selection for the British and Irish Lions Test side cemented that status last summer, and while he will undoubtedly want to add to his record of 13 tries in 31 international appearances, you get the idea that he’s just happy to be on the pitch.

Watson doesn't change his attacking approach if he has to switch to full-back (Getty)

“Whenever you get an opportunity to play for England it’s very special, it’s something you dream about as a kid,” he adds. “For me, locking down a position doesn’t really bother me, the skills that you develop playing both is only going to make you a better player long-term so I can’t complain and I’m more than happy with how it’s going.”

With this weekend’s encounter in Rome taking place on Sunday, England’s plans have shifted forwards by a day – although Watson adds it’s “a usual week” training-wise as the intensity is maintained at the highest level – but there is also a bit of good news in the scheduling for the Bath back.

That’s because American football fan Watson will still be up after the match to enjoy Sunday night’s Super Bowl, although the less said about the two teams involved, the better. Reigning NFL champions New England Patriots take on the Philadelphia Eagles, and for New York Giants fan Watson, it’s about as bad as it gets beyond a New York Jets appearance.

The 23-year-old will still be watching the most-viewed sporting event of the year, but his mind is very clear in who he’ll be cheering on – and he has no intention of jumping on the Tom Brady bandwagon any time soon.

Giants fan Watson admits he 'hates' the Patriots (Getty)

“Well if I’m involved, our game is on the Sunday this week so that’ll probably give me an opportunity to watch it as I’ll probably still be up anyway,” he says. “Who do I want to see win? I don’t want to see the Patriots win at all!

“My girlfriend is from the Philadelphia region so I think I’ll have to go with the Eagles this weekend. I hate the Patriots more than I hate the Eagles, 100 per cent.

“There’s a fair few [players] back at Bath that enjoy [NFL] a lot. At England, there’ll be boys who might not stay up to watch it but will watch the highlights first thing on Monday so I’m sure it’ll be a topic of discussion on Monday when we’re not talking about rugby.”

Watson is happy to play on the wing or full-back just as long as he's involved

As long as England get their quest for a third consecutive Six Nations title – something that no one has achieved outright in the championship’s history – off to a winning start, Watson will be all smiles regardless of who wins the Super Bowl. But part of this England side’s culture is to not let their minds wonder, and you can guarantee that there will be no talks of touchdowns, Hail Marys and other NFL phrases until long after the dust has settled in Rome on Sunday night.

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