Chris Ashton comes flying in from the cold as the 'Ash Splash' prepares for unlikely England return
The Sale Sharks wing is back from his four-year England exile, but in light of recent events, will he still perform his trademark try-scoring stunt if he gets the chance?
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Your support makes all the difference.Chris Ashton feared his England return was already over before it began, but as he prepares for what could be the dream Twickenham comeback, he admits that he has already had second thoughts about unleashing the ‘Ash Splash once again.
Twickenham has not seen his trademark finish in six years – at least when Ashton has been in the white of England after his emphatic Barbarians performance in the summer – but the 31-year-old is back in the Premiership with Sale Sharks, back in favour with Eddie Jones and back in the mix to start next Saturday’s Quilter International against South Africa.
With four tests up for England this November, it would not be a surprise to see Ashton crossing the whitewash. He is in the mix for a starting spot with Jonny May, Jack Nowell, Mike Brown and Joe Cokanasiga, and having scored a hat-trick on his Sale debut last weekend after serving a seven-week ban, the smart money is on him forcing his way into the starting XV against the Springboks.
But recent events are having an impact on Ashton in more ways than one. He is wiser, something he puts down to gaining experience in France with Toulon last season, and more mature, though he is the first to admit that it's taken some time.
“I think maturity and experience and game understanding – the players that I’ve had a chance to play with and be around, has helped me,” Ashton said in Vilamoura, where England are being put through an intense eight-day training camp.
“Just getting older, you feel more comfortable within yourself and you understand more what you are capable of doing playing-wise and how you get yourself to that place. Some players get it sooner than others; with Owen [Farrell] and George [Ford] and players like that, they obviously mature a lot quicker than some of the lads like me for whom it’s still a slow process. It’s still a project.
“In terms of experience, I have not been lucky enough to get some of the caps lads have got here, but playing, rugby wise, I’m 31 now and have been around a little bit.”
Ashton’s right. A player of his age and talent should probably have twice the 39 England caps that he holds, but then Ashton has not always toed the party line. He is honest, outspoken, mischievous and, in the past, divisive. That’s why Stuart Lancaster dropped him from his 2015 Rugby World Cup plans, but it’s also why fans love to watch him. He is not like the others.
Unfortunately, his career has also taken a path that has seen ill-discipline follow closely behind. The Wigan-born wing is not the first name that springs to mind in the list of dirty players, yet he has still copped three lengthy bans that have come at crucial times and resulted in him being dropped from England squads – the most infamous one being his 11-week ban for making contact with the eyes of Ulster centre Luke Marshall that saw him exiled from Jones’ plans before he decided to up sticks and move to Toulon.
“I thought at one point the decision was taken away from me by having a couple of bans,” he admitted. “I needed to go and change something and try something new and I did that by going to France. That worked really well for me and I like to think it changes opinion a bit and by me gaining that experience and then coming back has maybe earned me a few more brownie points.
“It’s always good if the coach is speaking like that. You’d rather that than not. But they are different things: me wanting to play and me being involved. I am really happy that he’s speaking that way, but it’s down to me training here and doing well here and hopefully, if the opportunity comes, I get a chance to play and get a chance to do it all right.”
Which brings us to the starting point: if Ashton is in the team, firing on all cylinders and has the chance to add to his 19 international tries, will the ‘Ash Splash’ return?
The art of try-scoring is very much of topic right now. Unfortunately for Bath’s Freddie Burns, it is because he had the ball knocked out of his control by Maxime Medard as be crouched to score what would have been a match-winning try against Toulouse earlier this month. It was a the nightmare scenario for any rugby player, and left Burns with his head buried in The Rec turf and praying for the ground to swallow him up.
Given that Ashton risks something similar every time he leaps high into the air to score, has he had second thoughts about binning his trademark finish?
“Poor Freddie! Ahh, I felt so bad for him,” Ashton adds with a grimace on his face, reliving the moment Burns committed a cardinal sin of celebrating before touching the ball down, not after. “Just put it down over the line, that’s what you do isn’t it?
“I never think about it all. Just put it down over the line. Or on the line actually!”
Pushed on whether he will go back to habit if he scores next Saturday – for what will be his first England try at Twickenham since the 2012 victory over the All Blacks – Ashton has not quite made his mind up, although last week’s hat-trick clinching score for Sale suggested that he might just be unable to contain himself.
He adds: “Yeah, that wasn’t the plan. We’ll see.”
Heading into the autumn, no one is really sure what to expect. A tricky 2018 has seen England lose more games than they’ve won, yet this month they could end up with four victories tto send a timely reminder of their talents to the rest of the world. They could also end up with four defeats, especially if Jones gets his team wrong against Japan, having already expressed a desire to rotate for the third match of the schedule.
But one thing we should perhaps expect, if all goes to plan, is the welcome return of the ‘Ash Splash. Just don’t tell Freddie Burns.
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