London Irish miss out on Anthony Watson due to ongoing financial uncertainty

Watson, who currently plays for Leicester after signing a one-year contract and taking a pay cut from Bath, has not yet agreed to any terms for next season.

Although Watson's name was not included on the list of players leaving or staying at Welford Road, he recently traveled to France to discuss joining Castres in the Top 14 and is also rumoured to have talked to London Irish.

However, it appears that Watson will be joining Saracens according to the latest reports.

Watson joined Leicester Tigers ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The England and British & Irish Lions moved to Leicester from fellow Gallagher Premiership club Bath Rugby.

Watson was born in Surrey and was a member of the London Irish academy before making his professional debut for The Exiles in 2011 and representing England at Under-20 level during the next two seasons.

He moved to Bath in 2013 and made more than 100 appearances for the club in the Premiership and European competitions.

Watson made his Test debut for England in 2014 against New Zealand at Twickenham and has made more than 50 international appearances, including at the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups, as well as having featured in successive British & Irish Lions tours in against the All Blacks in 2017 and Springboks in 2021.

These labels are based on the amount of fan adoration, leading to the possibility of exceptional players being branded as overrated and average players as underrated.

This judgment has nothing to do with the players themselves as they cannot control how fans hype them on social media beyond their actual performances.

Although examining the 'most overrated rugby players in history' is a contentious issue, we are not deterred from doing so. Our focus is on the fans, as the voters at thetoptens.com have expressed their opinions.

One fan wrote: "He had a few good years between 2011-2013 and then he has died down. Hasn't looked good as the commentary teams make him out to be."

Another commented: "George bloody North!"

A third said: "I think it's important to separate the player he was back in 2013, with the player he became once injury and loss of form hit. Definitely overrated though, but I think that's the media's fault."

One fan wrote: "Lazy player with a terrible workrate, decent positioning at times that sees him finish off the good work of other players and get all the undeserved credit. Poor tackler too."

A second commented: ”That man lived off his ‘solo’ try against Australia and managed to get in the England team every time. He couldn’t tackle a crossword! Lacks creativity and only works running a line of a short pass from number ten. Overrated definitely!”

"Maybe he got so many caps as there's been such a paucity of Welsh second rows. Maybe."

"At this point he only gets chosen because Wales Online will go nuclear and blow up Cardiff if he doesn't"

"I really really really don't understand why he is rated so highly"

"H'es been a great player. But he should have been nowhere near the starting jersey for the Lions in my opinion."

One fan argue back, saying: "Maybe he’s got 12 lions caps in a row, won numerous 6N championships, been nominated for world player of the year twice 4 years apart, and is the record cap holder in history because he is one of the greatest locks of all time...maybe.

"If there’s one player in world rugby who has caused more people to have egg on their faces after writing him off and downplaying his rugby ability, it’s AWJ."

"Going to be controversial but Sergio Parisse. Sure he had fantastic skills but he was a show pony and not a work horse and people often overlooked this. He looked fantastic for Italy but that was because he was allowed to do all the flashy stuff but was mediocre in other areas."

"I think Parisse got a lot of credit just for being a leader and a quality player in a poor Italy side and was never rated by anyone as anywhere near world class"

"Consistently made world xv teams on scant evidence."

"Never has a cliche ever fit a player more than overrated show pony for Sergio Parisse"

"Honestly.... by the end of his career Parisse."

"The French forward is a player who jumps to mind."

"His appearance was half his reputation. Whenever he was given the appropriate attention he folded."

"Talented athlete who put in the odd big tackle but when push came to shove he always seemed to wilt away from the physical side of the game."

"Maybe not any more but I think Chabal was always vastly overrated. He did the odd massive hit and good carry but overall his impact on most games was pretty average for a man with so much hype."

"Good 6, terrible 8, even worse lock."