YOUNG GUNS
As aspiring hookers go, few can have benefitted from the wealth of expertise and knowledge Ewan Ashman has been subjected to in his position over the last 18 months.
Former England No.2 Rob Webber was his coach at junior club Sandbach RFC for a couple of years before mentoring him at Sale, while he has two other gnarled old hookers to turn to nowadays with Steve Diamond and Dorian West running forwards operations at Sharks.
To top things off, a loan spell at Edinburgh in 2019 brought him under the tutelage of another former England front row warrior in Richard Cockerill, completing a powerful quartet.
Ashman, who made his debut in last month’s 40-31 league victory at Leicester and now has a Premiership Cup winner’s medal to his name, said: “I’ve been so lucky to be able to pick the brains of all these guys. ‘Dimes’ was a hard, tough hooker – the sort of not-nice-to-playagainst player I want to be – and ‘Westy’ is a pretty no-nonsense man in that respect as well.
“Richard Cockerill is another tough coach but I was used to that anyway and it was good to go up to Edinburgh last year, learn from other people and get a different perspective.
“Just being in that different environment in Scotland was really good and I took a lot from being around Stuart McInally too, so all those experiences help to develop you as a player.”
Ashman adds: “Rob Webber’s been a big influence. When I was at Sandbach aged 16 or 17, he and Byron McGuigan were coaching us and from playing predominantly in the back row, Rob helped my conversion to hooker and he’s still helping me now, even though he’s left. He was a top player and with the set-piece and technical stuff, I’ve tried to mirror him.”
Born in Toronto of a Scottish father and English mother, Ashman, 20, came to the UK when he was four and is eligible for all three countries.
He said: “I feel more Scottish, support Scotland and have played for their U16s and for two years in the U20s, but I was involved in England camps at U18 level and Dimes keeps telling me I’m English, so I’ll keep my options open.
“At the moment I’m just trying to do what I can to get in our first team and it was brilliant to get my debut at Leicester.
“I’d sat on the bench for 80 minutes twice without getting on, so to finally get on for 26 minutes was nice. I’ve got Curtis Langdon and Akker van der Merwe in front of me and they’re both experienced guys, but I’ll keep knocking on the door to get a chance.”
As for players he admires, Ashman adds: “Byron McGuigan played with Luke Cowan-Dickie at Exeter and reckons I can be similar to him. He’s a dynamic hooker whose carrying and pickand-go sets him apart and I’m quite heavy set as well, so that’s what I’ll aspire to.”