Anthony Watson could be too pricey for London Irish

Declan Kidney, the London Irish director of rugby, says trying to bring England wing Anthony Watson back to club could be significantly hampered by the Premiership £5m salary cap.

Watson is expected to leave Leicester at the end of the season with the arrival of Ollie Hassell-Collins from London Irish one of the reasons he is looking for a new club with a recent visit to Castres highlighting the player’s various options at the end of the season.

Watson started his senior career at Irish in 2011 before heading to Bath and then Leicester where his talents have earned more than 50 England caps and British and Irish Lions test recognition and the 29-year-old remains a key figure in Steve Borthwick’s plans for England’s Rugby World Cup challenge in France.

However, his status also means he comes with a large wage requirement and with Irish being able to bring on quality young players such as Ben Loader and Henry Arundell, there are other considerations for Kidney to deal with. He said: “There are lots of players come to us through agents and before a big game (against Saracens on Sunday) I wouldn’t be going into speculation about one player.

“Anthony is playing well for Leicester and has played well for England and is an old boy at the club but like a lot of players you have to see who you can fit in the cap. He is a very good player and there are a lot of good players out there and I am also very happy with the group of players I have here. We have a few tough selection decision going into Sunday and when you look at our back three players overall it is not a case of who do pick it is who do you leave out is the hard part.

“We have some exceptionally good players and that is depth of squad we are trying to build up over recent years and why it is no surprise where we are. We just need to close out a few deals on the pitch.”

Tom Parton is one of the impressive Irish players that have come through their own system but he is off to Saracens at the end of the season adding to the need for Kidney to bolster his back line options.

Irish are aiming for a top four finish but currently stand fifth with a game in hand over Northampton in fourth and must tackle leaders Saracens away on Sunday and former champions Exeter as they bid for a play-off spot. Irish have won their last three Premiership games against Saracens but Kidney is taking nothing for granted and has even allowed for 90 minutes to make the journey to North London. “That is the same time as going to Northampton!” he added. “Sarries are coming off two defeats and it has all the makings of a cracker of a match.”