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Sale reveal Ashton return date
By Nathaniel Cope
Sale have given an update on Chris Ashton following the calf injury which he sustained in England's 35-15 November Test win against Japan.
The 31-year-old missed England's match against Australia as a result, with forwards coach Steve Borthwick saying he'd be out for "a couple of weeks".
But now Sale have confirmed Ashton will make his return this weekend.
He is named comes at fullback for Sunday's visit to Bath Rugby in the Gallagher Premiership.
It will be the England international’s first appearance for the club in the Premiership, after a seven week suspension following his red card during Sale’s pre-season fixture against Castres Olympique on Friday 17 August.
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Watch: Chris Ashton speaks about life back in the England camp
Ashton has already made his debut, which was in the European Challenge Cup against Connacht, when he scored a hat-trick in a 34-13 win.
The versitile Ashton has been in good form since his return as is rated as the world's 16th best winger in the RPI rankings with a score of 81.
Lined up for his 100th appearance for the club is second row Josh Beaumont. Byron McGuigan and Josh Strauss also return from duty with Scotland.
Looking ahead to the game, Sharks’ Director of Rugby Steve Diamond said, “It was good to get a win against Northampton, who are playing well, but a fixture down at The Rec. is always difficult. They have a passionate crowd, and we hope to come away with something to show for our efforts.”
Sale Sharks: 15.Chris Ashton; 14.Denny Solomona, 13.Sam James, 12.James O’Connor, 11.Byron McGuigan; 10.Rob du Preez, 9.Faf de Klerk; 1.Ross Harrison, 2.Rob Webber, 3.WillGriff John, 4.Josh Beaumont, 5.James Phillips, 6.Jono Ross (capt.), 7.Ben Curry, 8.Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements: 16.Curtis Langdon, 17.Tom Bristow, 18.James Jones, 19.Andrei Ostrikov, 20.Bryn Evans, 21.Will Cliff, 22.Luke James, 23.Josh Strauss
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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