The pair of them ought to be reunited in Gregor Townsend’s training squad next month. Once the 1872 business is done and once the European qualification is decided, the attention will turn instantly to the Six Nations.
What great uncertainty lies within. Ireland, Wales, France and Italy have new coaches. And Scotland? The pressure after the failures of the 2019 Six Nations and the World Cup that followed will be enormous.
Watson saw less than 40 minutes of action in Japan before injury ended his tournament. “At the time you think it’s the most gutting thing that’s ever happened. I missed a World Cup I’d been looking forward to for four years, but the funny thing is that you get home and realise that rugby is not the be-all and end-all because I have a daughter, Honor, who had just turned one and she doesn’t care about rugby. Nappies still have to be changed. The world goes on.”
You sense that Scotland’s inability to get some traction in the Six Nations is annoying him, though. “We feel like we’re getting close sometimes, but it’s no good getting close. At some point we have to become the finished article. There’s no point in being a team that just attacks really well. Good teams get it done in whatever way necessary. We need to find that edge.
“Our defence has got to be better. If there’s a time to do it then it’s now because there’s a lot of coaching changes going on in the other countries. We start in Dublin. If we’re going to challenge for the title then we have to beat Ireland.”
Beating Glasgow will do for now. He’s waiting for a Wilson-led backlash, an angry performance that they’ll have to be at their best to quell. Scotstoun was a bleak place last weekend when La Rochelle were in town. This one should be altogether different.