Hamish Watson feels he has added more dimensions to his game

Hamish Watson has spent the last few international windows looking on enviously from the outside but, now that he is back in, admits to feeling some pangs at leaving his club Edinburgh behind at a difficult time.

Scotland's Hamish Watson in training at Oriam. Picture: SNS

The resurgence under interim head coach Duncan Hodge hit the buffers last Friday with a shocker of a 19-14 home loss to Italian strugglers Zebre.

It meant that, for all the good vibes that had been stirred by three wins in a row, two of them in Europe, Edinburgh remain languishing in the 
bottom half of the Guinness Pro12 with two wins and five defeats.

Watson’s fine form has been a shining bright spot in Edinburgh’s inconsistent start to the season but he was not involved last weekend after being recalled to Vern Cotter’s 31-man squad for this month’s autumn Test series.

“It’s a bit of a weird one,” said the openside flanker at Scotland’s Oriam training base. “I was in the stands on Friday night and I think it was a pretty depressing night for everyone who watched that game. If you are an Edinburgh fan or a Scotland fan it was pretty bad for the whole country.

“Obviously, some boys were involved in that game and it will be in the meetings analysing it, but that’s just the way it goes. If some of us do get released we will just have to try and put it right against Ulster [on Friday night].

“For all the players, even watching it in the stand, it was massively disappointing.

“Full credit to Zebre because they won, but for us it was a bit of an embarrassing 
experience.”

While there is perhaps a competing urge to help Edinburgh out of the mire, Watson is mainly focused on making the most of his big Scotland chance after being officially involved with a national squad for the first time since the 2015 Six Nations, when he won his first cap against Italy.

He was included in the wider training pool ahead of the World Cup but didn’t make it to England 2015.

“It is good to be announced in the main 31,” said the Manchester-born 25-year-old. “Obviously I’ve been involved in training squads, but there’s always the chance of getting cut.

“A few boys have been brought in for training but I think it will stay at 31 for the whole four-week period.”

When it comes to gaining selection for the Tests against Australia, Argentina and Georgia, Watson finds himself in a familiar position, with clubmate John Hardie, pictured, the main man to beat for that No 7 jersey.

Hodge has been rotating his two opensides but you imagine that the Kiwi-born Hardie is Cotter’s first choice.

“At the moment [at Edinburgh] this seems to be a rotation,” said Watson.

“Come the big games like the 1872 Cup it might be picked on merit or on form, but at the moment it seems to be on rotation.

“Obviously, you want to be starting every single game. I think I’ve started five this year. It can also help as well because if I’m getting picked above the No 7 at Edinburgh then obviously that could help.”

When asked to compare and contrast his game with Hardie’s, Watson replied: “It’s quite a tough question. Hards brings a lot of aggressive line speed and puts in some big hits. I think I can offer quite a lot with the ball in hand. I think we are slightly different but we still have the stuff that every seven can do – turnover ball and making good tackles.

“Duncan has worked a lot on my attack and that’s a big thing for Vern – linking up with the backs, working on offloads and passing, just not being so one-dimensional. It’s not just about carrying because you’ve got to be able to distribute the ball well and I think that has developed over the last season and a half.”

Of course, Australia, who open the series at BT Murrayfield on 12 November, have been keen under coach Michael Cheika to operate with two opensides in the back row.

Does Watson believe he and Hardie could play in the same starting XV? “There is that possibility,” he said.

“We can both do it. We are quite different in some ways but I think we could play together.

“It is an option that is there and we have done it a few times this season when one of us has come off the bench.

“What you gain on the ground, in defence and at the breakdown, obviously you lose a bit in the set piece and that’s a slight worry because you lose a bit of height in the lineouts.

“Obviously, I’m going to say I think it works, but who knows?”

When asked if he has discussed it as an option with Cotter, Watson broke into a smile and said: “No, I’m just back in camp so I haven’t gone up to Vern yet and said what I think the squad should be.

“If he decided to go down that route I’m sure it would work, but I haven’t had that conversation just yet.”