Anthony Watson hails power of visualisation in England return

A nthony Watson’s try for England against Wales last week came with a sense of deja vu. An obvious feeling of cathartic release, too, after spending so long out with injury, but underlying it all, a familiarity. For Watson had scored the try before, diving into the left-hand corner and dotting the ball down with his right hand. In fact, he had done so only days earlier during one of his visualisation blocks – a preparation method the 29-year-old winger swears by.

“I don’t really judge my quality of games by tries but to be able to score in the corner was nice and something I had spent a lot of the week visualising,” he says. “That is how I try to calm myself down before games. It is weird how it happened exactly how I had pictured it. Literally in that corner, because I was playing on the left wing and it was finishing with the ball in my right hand in that kind of style.”

Watson has been using visualisation techniques – as both a way to prepare for matches and cope with long-term injuries – for years. It started from his work with the renowned mind coach Don Macpherson and he does it a handful of times, 20 minutes on each occasion, in the buildup to a game.

An NFL fan, Watson chuckles when it is put to him how the Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently spent four days in a darkness retreat – “I don’t think I’m ready for that” – but techniques such as those he does use are increasingly commonplace in sport. Wayne Rooney used to talk about having a “memory” before the game and would seek out the kit man to find out what colour he would be wearing to enhance the process, and Watson believes it is of increasing importance in rugby.

“It has happened a few times when I have scored,” he says. “The power of