Chris Ashton has vowed to regain his place in the England side after completing the 13-week suspension he received for biting the arm of the Northampton prop Alex Waller during this month’s Premiership match at Saracens.
The 39-cap wing maintains he did not bite Waller but has accepted his punishment. However by the time the year ends he will have missed nearly six months of the nine Saracens have been in action, having received a 10-week ban in January for putting his hand near the eye area of the Ulster centre Luke Marshall,
“It would be an understatement to say I was disappointed to be handed a 13-week ban by the RFU, my second significant one of 2016,” said Ashton in a statement on Saracens’ website on Tuesday. “I told the disciplinary panel that I did not bite the Northampton prop, just as I had told the panel in January that I did not make contact with the eyes of the Ulster centre. Both panels chose to accept the opposing version of events. I did not agree with either verdict but I must and do accept the sanctions.
“There is no place for biting or gouging in rugby, and World Rugby are 100% correct in seeking to eradicate these actions. Rugby is a physical sport but it is also a fair sport; that is the way I have always played the game, and that is how I will continue to play the game.
“I would like to thank publicly Saracens for their support during these times, and I am wholly committed to repaying the faith of Nigel Wray, our chairman, and Mark McCall, our director of rugby, and all the other coaches, players and staff of this special organisation.
“My clear ambition is first to regain my place in the Saracens team and then to regain my place in the England side. It may seem a long journey back from the despair of last week’s judgement but I will do everything in my power to get back to where, in my heart, I feel I belong.”
Ashton, who last played for England in the summer of 2014, was recalled to the England squad for this year’s Six Nations, only for his 10-week ban to rule him out of the tournament. He was not chosen for the summer tour to Australia and was picked instead in the Saxons squad for the trip to South Africa, but he pulled out. He will be available for Saracens again just before Christmas.
Meanwhile, Bath have signed the Crusaders’ centre Robbie Fruean, who will join at the end of October. He will link up again with the club’s director of rugby, Todd Blackadder, who moved from New Zealand in the summer. The former Gloucester prop Shaun Knight has signed a short-term cover after the loss of David Wilson to Newcastle.
