Owen Watkin will complete an impressive recovery from World Cup reject to Six Nations starter when Wales tackle Scotland on Saturday.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland selected seven centres as part of an expanded training squad in May last year for the World Cup – but Watkin was not among them.

George North, Mason Grady, Nick Tompkins, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Max Llewellyn and Keiran Williams were Gatland’s preferred options, with 27-year-old Watkin left in the wilderness.

“Being left out of the training squad was really heartbreaking and massively disappointing for me,” he said.

“But I think setbacks like that can motivate you even more. I didn’t let it get the better of me.

“I knew I had to put more work in, stay injury-free and just create that momentum. I feel confident at the minute, I feel like my game is going well.

“I am probably being a bit braver with things I am trying, I am probably not just going through the motions.

“I am enjoying my rugby at the Ospreys, we are scoring some nice tries and winning some really tough games. I want to bring that momentum from there and try and implement it with Wales.”

While Watkin has won 36 caps and is the sixth-most experienced player in Wales’ starting line-up this weekend, it is his first Test appearance since an ignominious home defeat against Georgia during the 2022 autumn Tests.

“Obviously, you don’t want to go out on a loss,” Watkin added. “I did have that fear of ‘what if it was my last game for Wales’.

“I think I’ve put the work in and I do deserve to be back and I am focusing on the Scotland game. The Georgia game is behind me – I don’t even think about that now.”

Watkin will forge Wales’ midfield partnership with Nick Tompkins, offering an experienced combination as Wales look to make it 12 games unbeaten in Cardiff against Scotland.

The last time Scotland triumphed in the Welsh capital, current head coach Gregor Townsend was fly-half and it required injury-time penalties from Brendan Laney and Duncan Hodge to secure a 27-22 win.

Wales, though, have got it all to do this time around, underlined by a line-up that contains their lowest cap total for a Six Nations game since facing Italy five years ago.

Watkin added: “We know that they (Scotland) are a great team, they can turn it on when they are on their day and we know it is going to be a huge physical battle out there.

“It is going to be high intensity but like I said, we just need to focus on ourselves and control what we can control.

“We want to play rugby, but you have obviously got to play in the right areas.

“You can’t go playing from anywhere, against a team like Scotland as well, (because) they will punish you.

“It’s just (being) sensible where you play from, but when we get the opportunities we are going to look to play.”

Wales centre Mason Grady has a tough family act to follow at his first Rugby World Cup.

To gain selection for rugby union’s global spectacular just five months after your 21st birthday is no mean feat.

But Grady’s brother Cory Allen holds World Cup bragging rights, given that he scored a hat-trick of tries on his tournament debut.

It was eight years ago in Cardiff that former centre Allen made a mark, scoring three tries in 21 minutes during Wales’ 54-9 World Cup victory over Uruguay.

Allen, who won six Test caps, played no further part in the tournament, though, after suffering a serious hamstring injury during the second half.

His team-mates that day included current Wales World Cup squad members Liam Williams, Gareth Davies, Tomas Francis and Dan Lydiate.

“He is averaging three tries a game at the World Cup, which is the best of any player at the tournament,” Grady said.

“I have got a lot of catching up to do there.

“Luckily, it was a home World Cup so I went to every game. He only played in the Uruguay game then did his hamstring, so I only watched him for about 55 minutes.

“It was crazy. He didn’t play in any of the warm-up games so we thought ‘unlucky, maybe the next World Cup’, but he then got selected and scored a hat-trick. It was nuts.

“Now he has retired he gives me a lot more advice after games. He will just ring me and tell me what I can do better and what I’ve done well.”

Grady’s family pedigree is an impressive one – and not just on the rugby pitch.

His mother Julie had a 20-year basketball career, representing Wales and the Rhondda Rebels club side, while brother Ashton is also a basketball international and Grady himself featured for Wales Under-16s in the sport.

But rugby soon took centre-stage, with Grady making his Cardiff debut at the age of 17, winning Wales Under-20 honours and then making his senior Wales bow against England during last season’s Guinness Six Nations.

World Cup selection followed as one of four centres alongside George North, Nick Tompkins and Johnny Williams, and at 6ft 5in and more than 17 stones, he offers a considerable physical presence in midfield or on the wing.

Grady added: “It is very surreal. To think I was playing under-20s rugby last year – it’s pretty nuts.

“I take it all in my stride and just take it game by game. We just look forward to what is ahead.

“During the Six Nations I was a bit nervous coming in (to the squad) and trying not to make any mistakes. I am a lot more confident now.”

The Wales players were due to leave Cardiff for France on Sunday and their pool-stage training base of Versailles.

Wales’ opening Pool C fixture is against Fiji in Bordeaux next Sunday. It will be a fifth-successive World Cup for the countries to meet.

Wales then face Portugal in Nice before heading to Lyon for an appointment with Australia. Their final group game sees them meeting Georgia in Nantes on October 7.