Speed king Marcus Watson on track to claim prized Rio Olympics spot   

Marcus Watson returned to the World Sevens circuit last week, and although it was a shock to the system, the Newcastle flier is confident he will be back to his best in time for the Rio Olympics.
Watson, 24, was named in Team GB's extended squad alongside fellow XVs stars Joe Simpson, Wales' Cory Allen and Scotland's Mark Bennett and made his comeback for England at Twickenham last weekend.
He may have been away from the circuit for only a season since leaving to join the Falcons, but the older brother of England wing Anthony, says he enjoyed linking up with old friends, especially Dan Norton.
Their devastating partnership could be key to Team GB's success in Brazil and Watson is looking forward to the challenge.
“I started against Wales in the last pool game last Saturday and I thought I wasn't too far off the fitness level required to play,” he told The Rugby Paper. “But the game against New Zealand on Sunday opened my eyes – I have a long way to go.
“I'd like to think I'll be ready in three to four weeks, which is pretty much a perfect timing to give myself the best chance of making the squad.
“But apart from that, I felt pretty comfortable during the game. The main thing for me was to get used to all that space again and having more time on the ball. Building back relationships I had with players in the squad was a big focus of mine, too.
“It was great to see Dan again. I was rooming with him so it gave us a lot of time to catch up. It was great to see him scoring tries. His second one against Fiji in the first game where he chipped over the top of the defender at full-speed to score was one of the best tries I've seen.
“We have our first tournament as Team GB in Russia next week and it will be good for everyone to see how we go. There's nothing better than playing to see where you stand.
“Because of the short amount of time we have to put our hand up it's probably going to be the most competitive environment I'll be involved in.
“It's a great challenge and the reward would be just as great. We have the chance to become Olympians and that's simply the pinnacle for an athlete.”
Having spent three seasons on the Sevens circuit, Watson, who had previous spells with London Irish and Saracens, decided to return to the XVs game and joined Dean Richards at Kingston Park.
Eleven tries in 19 games later, it is fair to say the move has been a success even if pre-season quickly reminded him 80 minutes can be a very long time.
“My first pre-season game was against Leicester and it was probably my worst game ever. I was at full-back and I thought everything was happening too quickly for me to process everything.
“I also remember looking at the clock after 15 minutes and thought the game had already gone on for about two days. It was tough to keep my concentration up for 80 minutes.
“But it's gone well after that and I've really enjoyed my time at the Falcons. My goal at the start of the season was to get as much game time as I could, but I probably exceeded that if I'm honest.
“It was hard to do any specific Sevens training during the season but as soon as it was confirmed that we weren't going to be relegated I started to think about it more.
“I'm definitely playing catch-up, but hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things pretty quickly and go to Rio.”
NICK VERDIER