Chris Ashton
Saracens and England winger Chris Ashton has been banned for 13 weeks after being found guilty of biting Northampton prop Alex Waller.
After a six-hour hearing, a disciplinary panel found the 29-year-old bit Waller on the arm at a ruck during Saracens’ 27-12 Premiership victory at Allianz Park on Saturday.
The panel looked at two counts of biting but dismissed the second charge.
Ashton, who denied both offences, can play again on 19 December.
Saracens will receive a full written judgment from the disciplinary panel on Thursday, then have 24 hours to decide whether to appeal.
The minimum suspension for a guilty verdict was 12 weeks, with a more serious offence potentially carrying a punishment of up to 208 weeks.
Philip Evans QC, who chaired the disciplinary panel, said Ashton’s offence was at the lower end of the scale but “aggravated by his previous record”.
| Matches Ashton will miss |
|---|
| September: 24 v Harlequins (A) P; 30 v Bristol (H) P |
| October:9 v Wasps (H) P; 15 v Toulon (A) ECC; 22 v Scarlets (H) ECC; 29 v Leicester (H) P |
| November: 5 v Gloucester (A) P; 12 v Newcastle (H) P; 20 v Sale Sharks (A) P; 27 v Gloucester (H) P |
| December: 3 v Bath (A) P; 10 v Sale (H) ECC; 17/18 (TBC) v Sale (A) ECC |
| * P = Premiership; CC = European Champions Cup |
Ashton was banned for 10 weeks last season for eye-gouging.
His latest suspension puts a further dent in his hopes of resurrecting his England career.
Ashton has been capped 39 times and was in Eddie Jones’ Six Nations squad this year.
However, he was ruled out of the tournament after failing to overturn the 10-week ban for making contact with the eyes of Ulster’s Luke Marshall in a European Champions Cup match.
He was then left out of the squad which toured Australia in the summer.
His last England cap came in the summer of 2014, against New Zealand.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall, speaking before the verdict, believes Ashton does not deserve his notoriety.
“Chris has more press than most people get in these situations,” he said. “When similar allegations are made against other people, there’s not the same fuss.
“It’s obviously a serious allegation, but it seems to follow him around. I’ve really seen Chris Ashton grow as an individual in the four years I have known him.”
Analysis
“If Ashton had been found guilty of both acts of biting, he could have faced a ban in excess of six months, but the 13-week suspension still has significant repercussions for both the player and Saracens.
“He will miss a host of Premiership games, as well as four rounds of their Champions Cup defence, while any chance of an unlikely international recall has surely gone as well.
“Ashton was on the verge of England selection at the start of the year, but missed the Six Nations after receiving another ban, while he made himself unavailable for the England Saxons in the summer after surprisingly not being selected for the main tour of Australia.”
bbc
The Hunger Game.
For those who do not know what is happen in rugby. Read this:
London – Fiji, Samoa and Tonga produce some prodigious natural rugby talent but the Pacific Islands are being drained of even teenage potential stars by unscrupulous agents, Fiji’s Olympic winning coach Ben Ryan told the BBC.
Ryan, who stood down after guiding the Fijians to a memorable first ever Olympic medal when they won the Sevens at Rio last month, delivered a scathing appraisal of the behaviour of both northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere rugby agents and clubs.
Ryan, not the first person to enter into the debate about the mass exodus of players for potentially richer shores, says unregulated agents are destroying the rugby fabric of the islands.
“Anyone can do anything, so it’s the Wild West in that respect,” the 45-year-old Englishman told BBC Scotland.
Ryan, formerly the England Sevens coach for six years until he took up the Fijian post in 2013, alleges Pacific Islanders get offered contracts to play in New Zealand but only on condition they are eligible to play for the All Blacks.
“They get a Super Rugby contract dangled in front of them and they don’t then come back across to play for Fiji,” said Ryan.
“Australia’s the same.
“In 10 years’ time, if things don’t change, I see an Australian side with half their team coming from the islands, at least.
“I’ve heard of at least another dozen coming through the Australia ranks.”
Ryan says that England at least sets a benchmark for them to qualify to play in the Premiership, which is not the case in France.
“Unless you’ve got a full Test cap, you can’t come into the Premiership,” said Ryan, although England are not averse to selecting Fijian born players for the national side with Nathan Hughes having sworn allegiance to England after completing the obligatory three year residency rule.
“It’s a lot harder to come into the UK, so the French are poaching everyone.”
Ryan lambasts the agents and clubs who send out scouts as they scour the islands tapping up young talent – although French clubs Clermont and Brive have in the past set up Fijian-based academies.
“I went to Toulon in pre-season and they knew about 15-year-olds that were playing in Fiji school competitions,” he said.
“They’ll go to the villages, they’ll give some money or incentives to their family to get them to go overseas.
“Then they’ll take them to their French, Australian or New Zealand clubs or schools or academies.
“Some guys will make it, some guys won’t. It’s an educated gamble that more often than not pays off.”
Ryan implies one way that could see an improvement is by drawing up a list of authorised agents like football has done.
“There are dodgy agents and people on the islands cutting deals and taking backhanders,” said Ryan, claiming players are often contacted via Facebook.
“There are some terrible agents, mainly the ones that have been kicked out of Australia and New Zealand.
“They end up trying to get islanders across, saying how they helped them. It’s the opposite. I’ve had players left high and dry.
“Where there is un-regulation, you’re going to get cowboys out there that don’t care and are just looking to make a quick buck.”
@ cane:
Hahaha I was going to say that he must have been a bit ‘Peckish’!! 🙂
RIP Arnold Palmer.
The King is dead!!!!!!!!!!
@ cane:
Hi cane, I suppose it didn’t help that Waller was a bit thuggish in the game and at the time of biting he had his arm in Ashton’s face, not that am condoning the biting. This just highlights once you pick up a reputation as a player other teams will go to many lengths to get a reaction that they feel they can get from certain players.
@ dWeePer:
Hi dWeePer, not good to read all these things, there has been talk for a while about the exploitation of the Pacific Islanders but it can’t harm (hopefully) for someone who has Ryan’s profile talking about it too. Can’t remember if it was on the article you quoted but there was a graph that showed the numbers in the various competitions up north and the Top 14 had by far the most of these players in it. It is harsh for the many players who don’t make it. Then you get the good story of Leone Nakarawa who arrived at Glasgow as a relative unknown (to us anyway) and in a few seasons under Gregor Townsend, whose playing philosophy fitted Nakarawa’s ability so well, Nakarawa is one of the most talented second rowers in the world, has an Olympic 7s gold medal and got a big money move away from Glasgow to France for this season. For a long time another Fijian that was dubbed the Weegie fae Fiji was my favourite player – Niko Matawalu, what a superbly talented unpredictable player and meeting him just made him raise even higher in my estimation, came across as a super human being.
Hello GBS looks like you are logged on, howzit?
7 @ Bullscot:
Hello Bully!
How’s it hanging in bonny Scotland?
Freegin hell I have been busy!
… and today my building foreman pitched drunk as a skunk!!
@ grootblousmile:
Hi man sorry went away for a bit here, yes have gathered it must be busy on your side, that’s annoying about your foreman. How much building do you still have left, thought it would be done by now? Hopefully you get it sorted soon. Ok here over the sea but also been quite busy lately between home and work, have to travel a bit more now for work and have extra duties so adjusting to that, in a week am going away again for a few days and then if it’s approved a month after that will head away as well. Oh well just have to grab any opportunities while any are on offer…
Having just seen the SA side for the test at Loftus on Saturday, all I can say is thank goodness:
1. The Lions play the Sharks on Friday evening.
2. The Ryder Cup is transmitted LIVE from 14:30 until late after the Rugby is finished in PTA.
Our National Coach(es) seem to be stumbling from one strange selection to the next with about as much vision as a blind bat in a hail storm.
@ Scrumdown:
Agree. What a mess. Floppies (just can’t call them bokkies anymore) is going to lose big time.
@ Scrumdown:
Hi Scrumdown not sure why but it seems like the half back pairing hasn’t worked out for the Boks so maybe the changes were due, although from the comments about some of the forwards this Championship I don’t know the change has not been applied to them. Who do you think will win the Ryder Cup?
Bullscot wrote:
I reckon it will be close, but expect Europe to take the cup back with them.
Just too much form in their ranks at the moment methinks.
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