Anthony 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 visualisation is so important. I have scored tries and it has ended up exactly how I had it in my head. It starts off with just what it would look like from a bird’s eye view and then what it would feel like for me. It all starts with my work with Don Macpherson, that stuff puts me in good stead for what lies ahead and it just calms me. That is the only time I think about the game, in those periods of visualisation. It gives me blocks, periods of allowing myself to focus on what I need to then letting it go.
“It is common now. There is a greater respect for the power of mental techniques to prepare for games. Everyone is different, what will be useful for some people and completely useless for others. I just found it really helpful in terms of blocking out periods to think about the game, and it allows me to be chilled out and do whatever I want to do outside that. More and more people are finding techniques that work for them, as opposed to trying to rev up to 100 five minutes before a game.
“There is value in athletes just connecting back to themselves, but things move at a million miles an hour in sport and unfortunately you can get caught up in what [the media] writes, both positive and negative. I think that sometimes it’s important to step away from that entirely and remember who you are, not what people think you are.”
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Watson was making his first England start for almost two years against Wales having suffered a debilitating ACL injury in October 2021 before niggling calf, hamstring and quad problems struck at the wrong time as far as international windows were concerned. The road to recovery has been difficult but visualisation has helped along the way. “It’s something that I have done a bit with long-term injuries,” he says. “More to calm me down when thoughts start spiralling, that’s when I try to go back to that kind of stuff and come back to a more relaxed mindset. Sometimes it’ll be just to calm myself down, for sure. But most of the time it’s scheduled, I’ll know if I need to do it this evening or tomorrow evening. It’s on my own. If you saw me doing it you would probably think I look crazy!”
With England enjoying a training camp in Brighton during the second fallow week of the Six Nations the focus has been on continuing Steve Borthwick’s rebuild before attentions turn to France’s visit to Twickenham when they reconvene in Bagshot on Monday. So what does Watson have planned for next Saturday? He laughs and insists the script has not been finalised, but France should be wary of a player finally fit again and reaping the rewards of seeing things differently.