Perry: Sooner England Switch Watson To Full-Back The Better

MIKE Brown’s days as England’s first choice full-back are numbered according to Matt Perry, who reckons it is time for Bath and England to stop pussy-footing around and hand Anthony Watson their No.15 jerseys.

- Neale Harvey

So convinced is former Lions and England star Perry of Watson’s full-back potential that he suggests the 23-year-old Bath man could even usurp Stuart Hogg and Leigh Halfpenny by starting there for the Lions against New Zealand this summer.

Watson flourished in the position for England U20s and Perry believes it is time for England boss Eddie Jones to bite the bullet and promote Watson.

“Mike Brown’s done a fantastic job for England and is a real stalwart who is a better footballer than people give him credit for, but he’s starting to lose that critical yard of pace,” Perry told The Rugby Paper.

“He’s beginning to lose that edge and when that happens the game is so quick now that it’s harder and harder to recover.

“It’s time to give Anthony Watson that 15 shirt at club level to give him the confidence he needs to do it internationally – then Eddie Jones needs to say, ‘Right, let’s get this bloke into the England shirt this autumn’.