TIGERS DASH FOR ASH THE SPLASH
Leicester battle to get Ashton’s red card overturned so he can play against Sale this weekend... otherwise his rugby career is OVER
LEICESTER are backing Chris Ashton in a last-ditch attempt to prevent his career ending in red-card ignominy.
Tigers boss Richard Wigglesworth revealed last night the club will appeal against the decision to send off the former England wing for a dangerous tackle in Saturday’s loss to Harlequins.
Ashton, who retires at the end of the season, will not play again if disciplinary chiefs uphold referee Ian Tempest’s ruling (above) over his shoulder-to-head contact on Harlequins wing Cadan Murley.
A ban would rule the Premiership’s all-time record try scorer out of the postseason play-offs, which take Leicester to Sale on Sunday.
Wigglesworth said: “We will contest it and if it gets turned around, he will be available.
“There were mitigating factors in the tackle with the slipping and the dipping, and the mitigating factors are why we think it is a yellow and not a red. I’m not calling anything dodgy.
“If it is a high level of force and danger, the red card is there to protect players. We just want everything to be clear and obvious. They have got to get it right.” Leicester have yet to even be informed when the hearing will be held, but insist Ashton will be ready to play, if available.
Anthony Watson, Leicester’s other England wing, also faces an uncertain future and it is widely believed he will move to France next season. He was given a tour of Castres last month, but Leicester say they have not given up hope of keeping him.
England captain Owen Farrell dug himself out of his Six Nations goal-kicking rut by reminding himself how it felt to kick for fun as a kid.
He leads Saracens against Northampton in Saturday’s first semi-final and explained: “Sometimes the more you think about something, the more it becomes a problem. The thing I want to take it back to is almost being a kid messing around.”
■ Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust have called on the RFU to block efforts from Wasps to play at Sixways Stadium.