Cipriani’s back... but Ashton is banned for 7 weeks
DANNY CIPRIANI tried to put his off-field concerns behind him last night as he played the first half of Gloucester’s friendly against the Dragons at Kingsholm. But fellow England hopeful Chris Ashton was hit with a seven-week ban for his tip-tackle in a friendly for Sale against French champions Castres last Friday. ‘It is an important principle of rugby to prevent injury to others,’ said independent panel chair Richard Whittam QC.
CHRIS ASHTON’S hopes of resurrecting his England career were dealt a savage early blow last night as the Sale wing was banned for seven weeks before the new season has even begun.
The prolific try- scorer, 31, appeared at a disciplinary hearing in London yesterday after being sent off during his new club’s preseason ‘friendly’ against French champions Castres in SaintAffrique last Friday.
Referee Romain Poite showed Ashton (below) the red card for a 46th-minute tip-tackle on France scrum-half Rory Kockott, who was also dismissed for his part in the confrontation.
Kockott was suspended by the French authorities for a week for punching, but Ashton was dealt with more severely. He contested the charge against him but was found guilty and banned for six weeks, with a further week added to reflect his poor record.
This decision takes his tally of suspensions since January 2016 to 30 weeks. Ashton was harshly given a 10-week sanction for making contact with the eye area of Ulster centre Luke Marshall, before a similarly contentious 13-week ban for biting Northampton prop Alex Waller. His disillusionment over those episodes contributed to his decision to leave Saracens in 2017 and seek a fresh start at Toulon. However, a hat- trick for the Barbarians against England at Twickenham in May — after a record-breaking season in the Top 14 league — seemed to reignite his Test ambitions and he soon agreed to join Sale. He was swiftly recalled to a summer training squad by England coach Eddie Jones and the international second coming appeared within reach until this incident. By the time he can play again on October 9, there will be only one fixture for him to make an impression before Jones names his squad for the autumn Tests.
When the disciplinary panel reached their verdict last night, chairman Richard Whittam QC said: ‘Provocation is not a defence to foul play and lifting a player and dropping him such that his head makes contact with the ground has the potential to cause serious injury. While in this case the panel accepts no injury was caused, it amounted to foul play that met the red card threshold.
‘The absence of injury and that the action was as a result of a level of provocation meant that the panel found this was a low- end
entry point. Mr Ashton’s poor disciplinary record was an aggravating feature and the panel added one week to reflect that.’
Sale are expected to issue a response today, but are incensed by Castres’ provocation, which they claim included gouging.
Director of rugby Steve Diamond tried to be philosophical, saying: ‘It’s not a blow. We’ve never seen him play for us. It’s just putting off the excitement of him pulling on a Sale jersey. It was self- defence. I’m p***ed off that he got sent off, but in extreme circumstances where he defended himself.
‘ I’d take a red card for any other Sale player if they defended themselves the way Chris Ashton did.
‘I’ve got seven people unfit to train this week because of it (the match). There were three red cards, three yellows and things that went missing that would be red cards if they were seen by Premiership disciplinarians.
‘Our players have concussion, broken ribs, you name it. It was a brutal, violent French side a week before we kick off the season. They’re a top side in France, they didn’t like getting beaten and we took some serious injuries.
‘I think the officials during and after the game haven’t looked at it with the scrutiny it deserved.’