Chris Ashton - Would you have him in your England starting XV?

When reading through the boards/threads and just talking to people at the local club etc there has always been split opinions and some animosity towards Ashtons selection for England - a view I've never been surprised when watching his ground work and defense!

I'm simply curious about whether people would currently have him in their starting side. His strengths are very self evident with his try scoring and work rate in attack (he's always very willing to come of his wing and look for the ball) both strong. Unfortunately I think his weakness are even more self evident at times with his temperament occasionally in question, his ground work especially rucking often pretty poor and looking at huge risk of giving away penalties and his tackling sometimes suspect at best. Though he has been told too improve the later we hear!

Personally I'd give him a game or two to see how he does as he has performed in the past and when scoring tries is a real asset. If he struggles and Sharples continues to improve I can see his place being under pressure to the likes of Johnny May (Lancaster is a known fan of him) very soon however.

I'd have him at Leicester just to stop Manu getting bored at training.

Starting side of what though ? Club ? International squad ? Is this just to English posters ?

At some time SL will have to lay some cards on the table.

Under MJ Ashton led England's try-count in the 6Ns and the RWC. Since SL/AF took over it's been zip.

So yes. I'd chose Ashton (and and tigerleghorn noted I'd have him at WR)

I like the bloke, a hard worker who enjoys scoring tries and plays well with the team.

He looks and sounds a bit like Ricky Hatton

I would have him in my starting 15. He seems to be finding some form again now which is good news for England.

The reason i'd start him is purely down to the fact that he's so hard to cover when attacking. He gets a lot of criticism for simply 'being on the end of a pass' and taking it over the line, but there's so much more to his game than that. He's such a prolific scorer because he gets himself in those positions to receive the pass. His support lines are wonderful. I think a lot of people completely overlook that fact, and give him stick for it. he offers somethign very different to other wingers.

For that reason, I'd start him.

Concerning the Australia game this weekend, the real toss up was who played on the other wing. I'm happy with Sharples selection, and SL's certainly chosen a potent back three. Looking forward to it!

munkian wrote:Starting side of what though ? Club ? International squad ? Is this just to English posters ?

International side I was thinking of munkian should of been more specific! I said your side as I'm happy for an punters who support other sides to give their views.

When confident he is easily the best winger in England. His huge dip in form was brought on by several bad choices on the field (hair pulling, fighting etc) and a media and fan tirade of abuse that got carried away (the uproar about his bloody swan dive is ridiculous).

When it comes down to it Chris Ashton is a winger who scores tries, breaking records in the Chamionship, winning AP player of the year,highest world cup and six nations scorer etc etc. He also is a young cocky northern lad, well liked by his team mates but disliked by the general public to the point that it destroyed his game last year (jim mallinder needs to take some blame here to).

It's funny with the modern media driven rugby era we all want our players to be humble saintly figures that never make mistakes on or off the field, despite the fact that most of us in our youth were getting drunk, scrapping on the pitch and causing all sorts of mischief. For me Ashton is the best we've got and he's also the sort of guy i'd happily have a couple of pints with and a dwarf tossing competition (where that sort of thing is legal and controlled of course) ! I hope he finds his former swagger and all the people dishing out personal abuse get some perspective.

Well Ashton is no Alex Cuthbert but he's decent enough on his day.

.... on his day... zzz Wales .... zonk !

Now now Gregor. All Roger said was that Ashton is no Cuthbert.

And on that single fact alone I'd have to respectfully concur.

Why does anyone respond to roger???

Ashton makes it hard to like him because of his ceremonious splash, and IMHO that hurts him more than anything else!!!

When he's scoring tries and is confident we see the splash and everyone thinks he's the best on the planet, when he isn't he gets a large amount of slating he probably doesn't deserve.

He is a devestating strike runner, his support lines were excellent for a season or so, but now he's lost out wider at times and is way too easy to isolate and nullify from games.

That said IMHO he has to start, an Ashton at 75% is the best winger in England, an Ashton at top form is undroppable!

You do wonder if Ashton's drop in try-line success is a result of loss of form or playing a to a prescribed game plan.

He's a born try scorer, without necessarily having the step and creativity of May, Sharples, Wade etc but his all round game is very good.

Good to have a balance, I think his dip in form was during the problems at Saints. He's a new man at Sarries.

The problem is people's expectations of him because of that one try vs Australia.

That plus the 4 tries v Italy.

Shane Williams scored 5 for the lions vs Manawatu and showed he wasn't a one off by regularly scoring insane tries against all the top nations. He backed his hype up with performances again and again.

Cuthbert scored 3 tries in the 6 nations and has been scintillating for the Blues this season.

Ashton needs to up his game or return to league.

Ashton is a defensive liability. He hasn't scored for England in 9 outings. The Wobblies will target his wing tomorrow and may get lucky. Monye is very hard done by not to be starting IMO.

RogerLewis wrote:The problem is people's expectations of him because of that one try vs Australia.

That plus the 4 tries v Italy.

I'm not Ashton's biggest fan, but it's ridiculous to claim that. His try scoring record is fantastic:

Northampton - P: 110 T: 92
Saracens: P: 6 T: 4
England: P: 26 T: 15

Undeniable try-scoring talent with ratios like that across the board. Not to mention some of them made him RWC top scorer, despite only making the quarters.

There's no point comparing him to Shane and talking about consistency, Shane had a glittering career but we're looking back on an international career spanning over a decade. Ashton has barely been on the scene two years!

Of course we have to select him at the moment...