Eddie Jones this week upbraided Chris Ashton for shoving an opponent but the Saracens wing continues to give the England head coach a nudge in the run-up to the summer tour to Australia. Two more tries took his total to five since his return from a 10-week ban and his finishing was a key difference between the sides in the London derby before more than 80,000 spectators.
Jones had been critical of Ashton for shoving another England wing, Anthony Watson, during Saracens’ match at Bath after Watson had taken out Alex Goode in the air. Watson was sent off for the offence but, wound up by Ashton, he verbally lashed out at the fourth official as he left the field and received an extra week’s ban.
“I stopped reading the newspapers a long time ago,” Ashton said when asked about Jones’s remarks. “It is not my job, which is to play well. The people who go on the tour will be the ones in form and it is good to be back scoring tries and enjoying my rugby. I feel sharp after my enforced rest and it is good to be in a winning team.”
Saracens scored their three tries in the first half but in the second period the attention of both sides turned to their European semi-finals this week. Harlequins are at home to Grenoble in the Challenge Cup on Friday night and the following afternoon Sarries take on Wasps in Reading.
“Wasps are full of confidence and will take some stopping,” Ashton said, “but it is a long time since they reached this stage of the tournament and we have been there for the last few years. Mastering Europe is a big goal for us having been in the semi-final a few times and we have a big opportunity this week, not that we are taking anything for granted.”
Defeat all but ended Quins’ hopes of making the play-offs and if they are to send Conor O’Shea, their director of rugby, to Italy with a silver lining, they will need to win the Challenge Cup. “It is bitterly disappointing because our aim was the top four and the league, but our goals have changed and we want to get to the Challenge Cup final,” he said. “We have a few players returning [Joe Marler, Nick Evans and George Lowe] and the energy will quickly come back.”
Saracens Goode; Ashton, Bosch, Taylor, Wyles (Tompkins, 76); Hodgson (Farrell, 54), De Kock (Wigglesworth, 52); M Vunipola (capt; Barrington, 49), Brits (Saunders, 49), Du Plessis (Lamositele, 49), Hamilton (Smith, 55), Kruis, Rhodes, Wray, B Vunipola (Vunisa, 74).
Tries Ashton 2, Kruis. Cons Hodgson 2. Pen Farrell.
Harlequins Brown; Yarde, Marchant, Roberts, Visser (R Chisholm, 16); Botica, Care (capt; Dickson, 71); Lambert, Gray (Ward, 61), Collier (Sinckler, 61), Matthews, Twomey, Robshaw, Clifford (Luamanu, 59), Easter.
Pens Botica 4.
Referee G Garner. Attendance 80,650.
