LEAVING UNDER AN ASHE CLOUD
Warrior on his way but admits he was left frustrated by SRU’s refusal to back his cannabis oil venture
AS parting shots go, this one was certainly of the unusual variety. Adam Ashe was having the final word on his career at Glasgow Warriors as he prepared to head for pastures new, his time at Scotstoun having been blighted by injury of late.
Any regrets? Well, now you come to mention it...
It seems the SRU’s reluctance to back Ashe as he took his first steps in the world of business is a sore point. The issue appears not so much his desire to succeed away from the pitch, rather his choice of pursuit.
The 27-year-old runs Pure Sports CBD alongside former Scotland international Grayson Hart, with their main product being CBD or cannabidiol, made from the naturally occurring compounds found in the cannabis plant.
While the product is not on WADA’s banned list, they do urge athletes to be cautious with its use. Ashe, however, insists their version of the product is safe to use — and points out a number of high-profile athletes who take it and the benefits it provides.
‘I think the SRU do a relatively good job supporting players to get them into university or college, or into apprenticeships, and it has got better over the last two or three years. But going into business, there’s not much there to support you,’ said Ashe.
‘It was because it was the product. It would not have been an issue selling eggs, for example. It is quite frustrating because our whole business model was structured around pure, clean products.
‘A lot of research and studies show that CBD have a lot of benefits for athletes with things like anxiety, recovering from injury, helping with sleep.
‘After a few weeks of me talking about it to my team-mates and the physios, I was told that I need to be really careful about that stuff because it can have a banned substance in it.
‘We eventually found someone who could make the product and guarantee it was safe, and that’s when we launched the brand Pure Sports CBD. What we do, that other companies don’t do, is get our product tested for every single banned substance in sport.
‘There is only a couple of countries in the world that can do testing to that degree, so we deal with a company called The Banned Substances Support Group based in Los Angeles, and they certify our products.
‘So, for the last two years, I’ve been behind this but I’ve not been able to really get my teeth into it, to begin educating people. So, that’s something I am really excited about being able to talk about it now. We have guys like
Finn Russell at Racing 92 who is a massive fan of it. We have got All Blacks, Jerome Kaino, Liam Messam.’
An SRU spokesman said they advise players not to take CBD in line with UK Anti-Doping advice. As they do not endorse the product, no SRU-contracted player could use it or promote in relation to SRU rugby activity or on their premises although they were well within their rights to sell it elsewhere.
A statement read: ‘We see CBD as a supplement from a performance perspective. Therefore to follow UK AntiDoping’s advice we would encourage players to “assess the need’’ to take a supplementary product in the first place. Has it been screened or batch tested for any prohibited substances?
‘Then assess the consequences of taking it. Will it heighten your risk of failing an anti-doping test for example? So we only advise players not to take CBD in line with the guidance above.’
Ashe said now he was off the books at Warriors he could freely promote his company — while on the field he is confident he can bounce back after being released more than a year early from his contract.
He put pen to paper on a two-year extension at Glasgow in February 2019 and felt so confident he had a long-term future at the club that he put a bid in to buy a new house.
But 13 months later in March this year, days after finding out he had to undergo a shoulder operation that keeps him out of action until October, he came to a mutual agreement to leave Scotstoun after he was deemed surplus to requirements. His departure was only announced officially last week.
Although he has not signed for a new club yet, the 27-year-old feels he still has a lot to give and there is no reason he can’t regain the form that made him a top-class talent earlier in his career.
‘I want to go and play rugby and enjoy myself and if that happens and things are going well then the next thing might happen with Scotland,’ said Ashe who won the last of his six Scotland caps against Italy in 2015.
‘My first pro contract was under Gregor Townsend when he was in charge of Glasgow in 2014 but I don’t know if he knows about what’s going on.’
Although he bears no ill will to Warriors head coach Danny Wilson, who told him he could go, Ashe’s story is the latest cautionary tale of how the fortunes of a rugby player can be quickly turned upside down.
Ashe was looked on as someone who could become a world class No 8 before injuries — he has undergone five surgeries to his shoulder and ankles in the past five years — disrupted his career.
Now he is looking for a new club and admits to being left ‘angry and depressed’ under previous Glasgow head coach Dave Rennie, who he felt didn’t give him a fair crack of the whip in his final season.
‘At the start of the season I was feeling optimistic,’ he said. ‘I had signed a two-year contract. I was really happy with how it was going.’
However, he only played three times in the season just ended, the last time being in the win over Edinburgh last December.
Ironically, he spent his final season at Warriors sitting next to flanker Matt Smith in the dressing room. Smith had earlier gone on record about how he felt severely depressed when he was not playing and decided to retire at the age of just 23.
‘We had many times when we just talked about not enjoying it at all,’ said Ashe. ‘I had no idea about the depth of his struggle. I’ve always been someone who, if I’m struggling, would talk about it. I’ve got a lot of people I can fall back on outside rugby.
‘I’ve not got to a point where I really, really struggled, but there were times last season when I was seriously unhappy and I said that to Dave Rennie. I expressed that quite clearly. The overriding emotion for me was probably anger and frustration.’