CENTRE Owen Watkin has been Mr Consistency at the Ospreys during this United Rugby Championship campaign.
Whether its for the Ospreys or Wales, he consistently delivers, producing when it matters, for region and country.
Watkin, 25, has emerged as a leader and critical component for the Ospreys during the resurgence under Head Coach, Toby Booth.
The Bridgend-born centre is the glue in the Ospreys midfield and goes about his work in a no-nonsense and understated manner.
The Ospreys now face the Vodacom Bulls in the final regular season game of the URC with the Welsh Shield and Heineken Champions Cup qualification on the line.
Watkin, who has won 31 Wales caps and was named in the tour party for the three-match Test series against South Africa, has played a key role for the Ospreys.
He knows what is on the line as Wales’ most successful side in the professional era faces off against the most successful side in the professional era from South Africa.
“From the beginning of the year, Toby has made it clear that we want to be the top region in Wales,” said Watkin.
“If we can keep performing, we can achieve that but it’s down to us now. We have to make that happen.
“As the Ospreys we want to be playing in the top competitions, playing against the best teams and the best players in the world.
‘We have really started to build nicely over the last two years and next season we can really show teams that the Ospreys are here to compete.”
Watkin was one of the mainstays of the Ospreys side, which rattled off Welsh derby wins against Cardiff, the Scarlets and the Dragons.
The Ospreys have won five of their six games against their Welsh rivals during this campaign and are on a six-match winning run at the Swansea.com Stadium.
“We have picked up some form and some good wins, scored plenty of tries and put in some good performances and we are all enjoying our rugby,” said Watkin.
“Ideally, we want to have that from the start of the season but we have put in some good performances now and we want to keep building on that.
“It does take its toll on the body but it’s down to us to recover in the right way.”
Watkin, like Adam Beard, George North and now Jack Morgan have all themselves surplus to requirements with Wales, but all have returned to the Ospreys and shown real resilience and reminded everyone of their quality.
Watkin has shown he can play at 12 or 13 and is equally comfortable in either position.
“I have done a lot of work-ons for my game but I have delivered on what has been asked of me and things are going to bad for me at the moment, ” said Watkin.
“For me, it doesn’t really matter, they both have a wealth of experience. George and Michael Collins both have bags experience.
“George was the number one centre in Wales before his injury and it’s good for me to learn from him.
“It’s so pleasing to see him back and performing and as a team we are scoring tries.
‘It doesn’t really bother me whether I am 12 or 13, as long as I am on the field, I am happy.
“At 12, it’s more about carrying and 13 is a tough position defensively, but I am comfortable in both positions.
“Defensively I have been happy with what I am doing, it was all about when I had the ball, and I probably wasn’t doing enough with it.
“I have just put myself in better positions to get the ball and I have worked on my speed and footwork.
“It’s just about getting the ball and having more positive moments, like linebreaks and offloads. Just more touches, in general, really.”
Watkin has certainly done that as all Ospreys supporters would know.