IT is strange to hear Hamish Watson reveal he felt something of a sense of relief in the aftermath of his injury in Scotland’s opening World Cup game in Japan in September.

He was not, of course, happy to be ruled out the World Cup, his first-ever appearance at the biggest tournament in his sport after narrowly missing out on selection for the previous one. The 27-year-old was though, hugely relieved when he realised that an injury that he initially feared may see him sidelined for months, would only keep his out for 10-12 weeks.

“When I go down for that long I know it is serious, I knew straight away,” he said.

“If you have ever done your knee, you know straight away and I felt it stretch and felt something snap.

“At that point I was just thinking ‘I hope it’s not my ACL’ which is what most players think. As soon as you do your knee you think the worse, and with any injury, you think ‘how long will this keep me out for?’”

As soon as Watson was in the dressing room, the medical staff told him the good news; his ACL was intact. That good news was tempered however by being told that he had injured his medial ligament and so his World Cup was over admits he was “gutted” realising his World Cup experience had lasted less than 40 minutes.

He was flown home and instead of being in the thick of the Scotland squad, was forced to watch the remainder of the tournament from his couch. The flanker was, though, able to be pragmatic about it all.

“There was no point in keeping me out there when it was going to be a 10 to 12 week injury. I needed to come back and they wanted me back here to start my rehab as soon as possible,” he said.

“I got a week or 10 days off at home to get my head round it and chill with the family.

“Having my wife and daughter at home helped – I did say that if that had been four or five years ago, coming back to an empty flat it would have been a bit bleak just after leaving the World Cup. So it was nice to have them around when I came home.”

Almost as soon as Watson landed back in Scotland, his mind turned to regaining his fitness for Edinburgh.

He made his first appearance of the season last week in the team’s impressive victory against Munster in Cork, which was a touch ahead of schedule.

Watson managed the entire 80 minutes last week and while he admitted he wasn’t quite at his best, he emerged unscathed injury-wise and is likely to make his second appearance of the season for the capital club when they face Wasps at Murrayfield in the European Challenge Cup on Friday.

And Watson has timed his return perfectly, with a double-header against the English Premiership team then followed by a double-header against Glasgow Warriors, while selection for the Six Nations is on the horizon.

And Watson admits he is delighted to be thrown in at the deep end with such an important run of games looming, and as he looks ahead to Friday’s clash with Wasps, he knows his side will have to be on their game to get the better of the former English Premiership champions.

“It is great to come back and have some tough games. They will test me and test the team individually as well. Hopefully I can get back to playing well and put myself forward for the Six Nations,” he said.

“It’s an important part of the season with those back-to-back European games where we know we are going to have to, after that draw, win both to have a chance – of that top seeded spot, anyway.

“It is going to be a tough game against (against Wasps). A really good team against a really good team that are maybe struggling a bit for form but are a great team with great individual players.”

Watson is far from an automatic pick for head coach Richard Cockerill though, with the flanker facing considerable competition for a starting spot. Jamie Ritchie replaced him in Japan while Luke Crosbie performed impressively for Edinburgh while Watson and Ritchie were on international duty.

Rather than be despondent abut the competition for places though, Watson is relishing the challenge.

“It is a great thing for the club we have great strength in depth. We have had that for the last few years that we have had great strength in the back row, especially,” he said.

“You can see across the squad that Cockers is rotating players and resting players a bit more. Last season you can see he had the same starting team for a few consecutive games.

“It is great for the team and great for the fans that we have great depth.

“For me personally, it is good competition. You can never rest on your laurels, you have one or two bad games and there is somebody else coming through to take your spot. It is good for me and keeps it combative in training as well.”