Chris Ashton’s decision not to tour South Africa with the England Saxons this summer was not an emotional reaction to his omission from the senior England tour of Australia. According to Mark McCall, his director of rugby at Saracens, his England career is far from over.
“I think he’s playing too well and is too young and hungry for that,” McCall said. “Eddie [Jones, the England head coach] has shown he is prepared to give people second chances and they can change his mind quickly. Consistent form will hopefully get him back in there.”
The Saxons tour is seen as a development opportunity but some senior internationals have been included, such as Danny Cipriani and Dave Attwood. Ashton’s situation is complicated by the baby his wife is expecting and his decision not to tour with the Saxons was taken in consultation with Jones.
“Eddie showed him a little bit of understanding,” McCall said, “same as he did in the Joe Marler case. As far as I know the decision was made in conjunction with Eddie. Chris’s wife is due to give birth towards the end of June, so for all sorts of reasons his head wouldn’t have been in the right place. It was probably best that he didn’t go.”
McCall acknowledged that Ashton would have toured Australia, had he been selected, but his personal circumstances, not to mention the highs and lows of his tortuous season, tipped the balance against the prospect of smiling his way through a development tour to South Africa. At 29 years of age with 19 tries and 39 caps, it was felt that such a tour would be of only so much benefit to him.
It is all the more painful for Ashton, who had lost his England place under Stuart Lancaster, that he had been named in Jones’s first England squad before the Six Nations. Back then Jones celebrated his virtues, particularly his attitude, describing him as “mad as a cut snake”. Then, just as he seemed poised to rebuild his international career, he was hit with a 10-week ban widely acknowledged as severe and missed the chance to participate in England’s grand slam.
Since his return he has scored 10 tries in eight matches for Saracens. If he was ready for England in January, it is not obvious why he is not now. “He was picked ahead of Marland Yarde for the Six Nations before he was suspended, a ban that all agree was a little bit harsh,” McCall said. “At that point they were concentrating on what he brought, not what he didn’t bring. Clearly that’s changed. But he is a big boy and has weighed up everything and he felt that he wouldn’t have been in the right place to support the team as well as he could. And that is a courageous decision.”
The question marks over Ashton have tended to focus on his defence and his kick chase, areas that have improved at club level, while his traditional strengths of try-scoring and support play have surged in recent months. “His all-round game has improved a lot. He’s not just a try-scorer. He reads the game exceptionally well, he’s very skilful and he is also prepared to work for the team, do the unseen stuff, hound people and chase kicks and all that sort of thing.”
Meanwhile McCall is confident that Owen Farrell will be fit for the Premiership final against Exeter at Twickenham on Saturday. The Saracens fly-half was in evident pain when his ribs took a clattering in the semi-final last weekend from two tackles in the same passage of play. He has yet to train this week but is expected to do so on Thursday. “Owen’s fine. He’s got a bit of an issue with his side but he’ll be fine. He needs to train with us on Thursday and, if he does, then he will play.”
