Edinburgh's Hamish Watson considered France 'lifestyle' switch before new long-term deal
- Published
Manchester-born Hamish Watson was not considering a move to England
Hamish Watson says he considered a move to French rugby but thought a new Edinburgh contract would mean he was "best placed to play for Scotland".
The Manchester-born 29-year-old back row, who has 36 caps, has already been with the Pro14 club for 10 years.
Watson revealed that offers from rival clubs were still coming in days before he signed his new long-term deal at the start of January.
"I was considering a move to France rather than England," he said.
"If I was going to move from Edinburgh, it had to be the right move - a completely different change in rugby styles and lifestyles. The Premiership, although a great league, was offering quite similar stuff."
Watson admits he was tempted during the three months of contract talks.
"This is the first time in my career I've considered a move just because of the age I'm at and the stage of career," he told the BBC 5 Live's Rugby Union Weekly podcast. "If I was going to move, this is the time, but in the end it just came down to family and I got offered a good long-term contract that offered lots of security."
Watson thought Edinburgh would best help him realise "ambitions to go to another World Cup" and he is likely to be in the Scotland squad to be announced by Gregor Townsend on Wednesday ahead of this season's Six Nations.
"Realistically, a successful campaign would be winning all our home games," he said. "If you beat Italy, Ireland and Wales, deep down you'd probably be pretty happy with it because the two away games against England and France are going to be tough.
"We can go to those places with a lot of confidence, though, as we've beaten France recently and from the draw in 2019 we can take it that we can score at Twickenham."
Watson believes only a strong showing in the Six Nations will secure places for Scots in the forthcoming British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.
"If we are winning games, it's going to be hard to ignore Scottish players, but it's quite easy not to pick Scottish players if we only win one game - and it's probably justifiable," he added. "It's getting harder to ignore Scottish players."