Anthony Watson stands in the living room of his home in Leicester. He politely explains that, as part of his rehabilitation from the back injury that has kept him out of the Six Nations, it is best not to sit while we talk.
During our conversation, the 30-year-old young man takes a deep breath from time to time and almost unconsciously starts stretching exercises. This is not your average interview with an England international and a British and Irish Lion. Players normally perform media duties ahead of major tournaments or Tests when they are in peak physical condition. It is rare to have this access in case a player leaves the field due to injury.
Watson is at pains to emphasize that this is not a “sob story” and that his latest injury is “part of the job he accepts”. But he is willing to offer his perspective on the particular mental challenges that come with a career in professional rugby.
“I think one of the problems is playing through pain,” Watson told Telegraph Sport. “I think a scenario that outsiders probably won’t understand is having to come into the game and play 80 minutes knowing you’re suffering. I would say the rigors of playing week in, week out, coming back from, say, the Six Nations to the club game, can lead to burnout.”
Watson also discusses the impact rugby has on some unseen aspects of the sport, such as injury rehab and contract negotiations: “The stress on family life and everything is just crazy.”
The issue of wellbeing in rugby union has been discussed at length since Owen Farrell announced in November that he was stepping away from his international career to prioritize the mental health of himself and his family.
Watson offers a unique perspective, focusing on aspects that may be overlooked by those outside the hallowed sanctum of sport. Despite an impressive 56 caps for England, his career was ruined by injury. This was the first of two successive Achilles ruptures in the 2018 Six Nations final game against Ireland in what he described as a life-changing injury and a major factor in his mental and physical exhaustion. the deep psychological impact that comes with it.
Watson has been meeting in Bath with acclaimed mental skills coach Don MacPherson, who has worked at the highest level in sports including tennis, Formula 1, golf and athletics, since his late teens and this has helped him gain clarity on the links between mental abilities and mental abilities. and physical exhaustion.
“The biggest, best example of burnout I can think of is [in my career] “It was actually the week I ruptured my Achilles tendon in 2018,” explains Watson. “I should have retired from the game, but at 24, I didn’t feel confident enough to go out and I didn’t think it was appropriate to withdraw due to fatigue. But I was completely exhausted, physically and mentally.
“I remember looking for Don on the road; We were driving to Twickenham so I called him and said ‘dude, I’m done’. ‘I’m incompetent.’ He told me: ‘You need to turn your meditation on, turn it off and not worry until the game comes.
“And I remember thinking: ‘f—, something’s going to come into this game. I can just feel it.’ I was so baked that I’m pretty sure my Achilles tendon ruptured and it was so weird because it happened and I was almost like ‘oh, thank you f—, I’m taking a break now.’ You know what I mean? That’s the craziest thing you can think of when you rupture your Achilles. But that’s exactly what went through my mind.
“To be fair, it was crazy at the time too. The following year we were partially preparing for the World Cup. The training was really tough. I also suffered a lot in my Achilles tendon throughout this whole process. I would never put the blame on someone else. “I had to get myself out of this game.”
‘When you’re tired, you’re on autopilot’
He continues with a description of burnout in sports: “It’s terrible. It’s like you don’t have the energy to train or play. It’s like you want the game to be over. You’re basically looking forward to your next break, you’re kind of counting down the days, and I’d say 95 percent of the time you wake up and you’re ready to go and you’re ready to fly. When you study, you have a clear plan of what you want to do.
“But when you’re exhausted, you switch from one ear to the other and you’re kind of on autopilot.”
Almost six years later, would Watson, who recently turned 30, withdraw from a similar match if he found himself in a similar situation?
“I would like to say yes. “And I think I’ve learned my lesson more, but it’s still really hard every time you get into that scenario,” he replies. “Your brain may play tricks on you and try to suggest that you feel something when you don’t. “You have to constantly check how you’re feeling and whether the situation is serious.”
He adds with a rueful laugh: “I would consider withdrawing now, but when you’re in the scenario it’s very different and you know, if this were a World Cup final, I’d probably do that. play…”
Other significant injuries Watson suffered include ACL [ACL] A tear that kept him out of the game for nine months in October 2021. Oddly enough, his bad luck with long-term injuries has, in his opinion, protected him from further burnout. “I can honestly say I’ve probably experienced burnout two or three times in my career because I’ve had forced injury breaks that shielded me from that feeling,” he says. “I think you can also experience burnout with rehab. This is also a realistic experience after rehabbing for X months and years, you experience burnout from the process.
Watson partly blames the excessive demands placed on England internationals returning to the Premiership from Test rugby as a route to burnout.
“I’ll use Freddie Steward as an example. He plays an incredible amount of rugby every year and plays to a fantastic standard almost every week. “I don’t think people can understand how difficult it is to do that and not only do it, but finish the Six Nations and play for your club the following week without a break,” he said.
“I think it’s one of the most psychologically challenging things about this season. You find it very easy to go from representing your country in front of 80,000 people to one game and then going back to what you were doing six, seven years ago.”
“When you play international rugby it is difficult, really difficult. Because you literally go from club rugby to international rugby to club rugby to international rugby, there is very little break in between and because you are an international player you are expected to play well.”
The English system currently works very differently to the Irish model, where centrally contracted Test players are given strict rest periods. Watson considers what the proposed changes will mean for players going forward as RFU contracts come into force.
“Isn’t it crazy? “I think there could be changes that could make a big difference for the 20-25 players coming in June,” Watson says.
“But you know, in my opinion, this model has not worked very well in protecting players from burnout in the last four or five years.”
Watson does not want to go into the explicit details of contract negotiations over the past two seasons, when he was given a deal by the RFU to take part in the Rugby World Cup; they just want to keep him out of England because of his calf injury. Campaign in France.
‘Being injured can take away more from your family life than when you were healthy’
Given Watson’s history and current circumstances, injury is never too far away, which brings up the issue of playing through pain. He highlights the progress that has been made on concussion, but another ongoing stressor for players is dealing with pain. He says: “The feeling of playing through pain is greater before the match. Because at that moment you’re constantly wondering ‘is this going to get worse?’ you say. Is this serious? What causes this?’
“But once the game starts, everything happens so fast and it’s really hard to notice the pain. Adrenaline kicks in and it masks a lot of things. “It’s more of a pre-game fight when you’re in pain than after you come into the game.”
But there’s more to the pros than just their impact on players. Watson also has a role at home as husband to Alyse and father to three-year-old Kai. “Paternity [change your outlook] “Because it makes you question your decision-making even more about whether you’re doing the right thing or not,” he says. “If anything, it makes me feel a little bit guilty sometimes to be honest about the fact that rehab and other things are a lot harder than playing in terms of the time and sacrifice you have to put into it. “Sometimes it takes more out of your family life than fitness.
“I can’t come home from practice and go for a walk with my son because I have to worry about an ankle injury, ‘oh, now I need to rest my ankle.’ Then when I get home it’s like I can’t even sit down and play with it on the floor because my back isn’t comfortable. Or you go home afterwards and you go on ice or you have to go in a sauna and stuff like that. My wife has to pick up a lot of the slack when I get injured, and I feel guilty all the time.”
‘Men are paid well, but in the end their bodies become soil’
Watson recognizes that he is in a privileged position to represent his country and the financial benefits that come with it, and feels that he is well prepared for life after rugby, having recently completed a Masters of Business Administration at the University of Bath, but he further emphasizes the tensions in family life and his and concern for the physical shape others will find themselves in at the end of their careers. So it raises a final concern that most players need to address: Are the sacrifices that come with playing at the top of the international game and the financial riches on offer worth it?
“We’ve seen some things about concussions and how guys forget things they’ve experienced, but there’s also the physical side of it,” he says.
“And I’m like, ‘Money is great and you can do X or Y with it and send your kids to school.’ [a good school], have a nice holiday, this is great. But you know, your kids want to play with you, right?’
“Your wife wants to go for walks with you and things like that. So people don’t appreciate the existence of some men who are paid very well, but in the end their bodies turn to dust. So ‘will you take that money for this?’ something like. I don’t know.”
