Chris Ashton's 'glint in his eye' last season convinced Eddie Jones to hand him an England recall

New Sale Sharks wing spoke to Jones before the Barbarians match last May to express his desire to return to England and reignite his international career

Chris Ashton’s “glint in his eye” ahead of England’s game against the Barbarians last May convinced Eddie Jones to recall him to his training squad ahead of the new season.

Jones announced a 44-man squad for his pre-season training camp in London this weekend, with Sale Sharks’ newest acquisition included following his return from France. Having scored 19 tries in 39 Tests for England, Ashton left for Toulon last summer after growing frustrated with his treatment at international level, having not played for his country since 2014.

Ashton was called up to Jones’ first squad at the start of 2016, but an 10-week ban for eye-gouging Ulster’s Luke Marshall ruled him out of the Six Nations that year and, after deciding not to tour with the Saxons side in there summer, he decided to head for pastures new in the south of France that ruled him ineligible for selection.

But after returning to the Premiership with Sale in June, Jones believes Ashton’s desire to seize his last chance with England warrants a place in his training squad.

“Before the Barbarians game, we had a quick chat and he had a bit of a glint in his eye, which indicated something and that something was that he wanted to come back to England,” Jones said of the 31-year-old, who scored a hat-trick for the Barbarians against the country of his birth.

“I think he had the idea in his head. He wants to play for England and he sees this as his last opportunity so we’re very pleased that he’s made that decision and we’re looking forward to what he can bring to the table.”

The inclusion of Ashton is no guarantee that he will be involved in the autumn internationals – which begins with a rematch from the summer tour of South Africa before Tests against New Zealand, Japan and Australia – as Jones will use this camp to assess where each player is and how they can fit into his plan to win the Rugby World Cup next year.

One name that returns is that of Dylan Hartley, who until the summer tour captained England under Jones’ reign only for a serious concussion sustained in the final Six Nations match against Ireland to rule him out for the remainder of the season, including the series against the Springboks. That resulted in Owen Farrell taking over the captaincy, but Jones said now is not the time to think about who he will install as captain for the autumn programme.

Hartley hasn't played a match since suffering a concussion in March (Getty)

“It’s good for him, he got married over the summer and I think he’s just got back from his honeymoon,” Jones said. “[He’s] done some quality pre-season work so it’s great to have him back in the mix and we’re pleased to have him there.

“In every players’ case it’s too early, it’s pre-season. Most of the players who went on the South Africa tour and the Under-20s tournament have only been back in their clubs for two or three days so it’s very much a get-together to see where everyone is.

“We’re not playing a game, so we don’t need to decide about captaincy. As I said, it’s a pre-season camp to get 44 players together, there’s another 14 players who haven’t been considered for the camp because of injury or because we decided to rest them from the tour and we want them to continue their pre-season with their clubs.

“We’ve got to make a selection decision for November 3, so when we need to make a decision on that we will decide on the captaincy.”