Hamish Watson breaks decade old Six Nations record

Scotland recorded back-to-back victories over England in the Calcutta Cup on Saturday, doing so for the first time since 1984, but there was another record broken in the match by Hamish Watson.

The 2021 Six Nations' Player of the Tournament picked up from where he left off last year, making 14 of his attempted 14 tackles.

Those 14 tackles meant that Watson broke a 10-year-old record set by former France international Lionel Nallet.

The Scottish flanker has now made 163 tackles in a row in the Six Nations without missing, surpassing Nallet's tally of 154 for the longest run of tackles made without a miss in Six Nations history.

Watson's run began back in 2019 when he made 16 consecutive tackles in the chaotic 38-38 draw with England in the final round of the Six Nations. He made 18 tackles that day, but two earlier tackles before making 16 in a row.

He kickstarted 2020 with 16 tackles in the opening round defeat to Ireland. He made ten a week later in the narrow defeat to England and 15 more against Italy in round three.

In October, he made an incredible 21 tackles against France in March of 2020 and a further 11 in the rescheduled match against Wales. 

In the round one win over England in 2021, Watson made 11 tackles before making another 18 against Wales in round two.

In the remaining 2021 Six Nations fixtures, he racked up tallies of 15, 3, and 13 against Ireland, Italy, and France.

Watson can extend his record in the next round of the Six Nations when Scotland head to Cardiff to face Wales. 

Injured Wales flanker Justin Tipuric may have the opportunity to chase down Watson's record when he returns from injury. The 32-year-old took his tally to 116 consecutive tackles in his last Six Nations match last year against France. Tipuric made 82 tackles during the 2021 Six Nations, the most by any player in the competition, and he did not miss once. 

Breakdown of Watson's record:

All stats quoted via Opta.