ANTHONY WATSON'S dad saved the England star’s World Cup dream — thanks to one brutally honest text during his darkest hour.
Bath winger Watson is set to play his first Test for 17 months against Wales on Sunday after recovering from two operations to repair his snapped Achilles tendon.
But it is only because dad Duncan gave it to him straight as he wallowed in his own misery.
The Lions star said: “I would say I had two or three days where I was particularly like, ‘This is a nightmare’.
“The quicker you can snap out of those days, snap out of those moods and focus on what you’re trying to achieve then the better you are for it.
“I texted my dad saying I was struggling and he just replied, ‘Mate, you’ve got to get on with it or you’ll never play rugby again’.
“I was just like, ‘Wow’. You can never hit more home than that.
“It’s so black and white — but so true.
“If you really want to play rugby again you’ve got to do everything you can. You can’t just sit and mope around. That was a real kick up the backside.
“It was slow progress. The injuries I had previously, hamstrings and jaw and stuff like that, they weren’t really one day it’s sore, the next day it’s not as sore. It gets better and better.
“With an Achilles it can go up and down. It’s very variable so it was just dealing with those days when you thought it was all going so smoothly and now it’s not going so smoothly.
“It was only painful for four days after the op. After that, you’ve got two weeks in a cast and those are the worst two weeks because you can’t do anything, you’re just sat at home doing nothing.”
If Watson comes through unscathed against Wales he will book his spot as part of Eddie Jones’ 31-man England party travelling to Japan on September 8.
But even this summer there have been more mental obstacles after Jones sent him to train alone with sprint specialist Jonas Dodoo in Loughborough while the rest of the squad met up in Bristol.
Watson, 25, admitted: “At first I was a bit sketchy, not being with the lads, but then I had it explained to me why I was going.
“I didn’t see it right at the start but it was definitely the best thing that could have happened.”
But while there is good news for Watson, the road to recovery looks bleak for Jack Nowell, with England unable to put a date on his return from ankle surgery.
Coach Neal Hatley said: “We’ll see with Jack. He saw the specialist last week and is in with us this week. Jack’s the sort of guy who will work his backside off.”
England face a Wales team that are among the favourites in Japan after they extended their record-breaking run to 14 wins by clinching a Six Nations Grand Slam.
And wing legend Shane Williams, 42, who scored 58 tries for Wales, said: “We’ve been targeted as one of the favourites for the World Cup and never been in that position before.
“We need to be more confident and arrogant because it will give them massive confidence.”
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