Ashton is showing the right attitude
I was very encouraged by England’s showing against Scotland considering the limited time they had together and it being a brand new team, defensively they did the basics brilliantly, though it has to be said the Scotland attack is about as menacing as a mouse without teeth.
But England looked like they were playing for each other, which is something I did not detect in New Zealand and playing for a cause they believed in. I thought we saw a squad there for each other, covering for each other’s mistakes, scrambling for each other even if they helped by some crass Scottish errors in attack. There were a number of positives and quite a few negatives but as a starter you couldn’t ask for more than a win Murrafyield.
Phil Dowson started nervously, making a couple of mistakes early on which you wouldn’t expect him. The look of mortification on his face told you that they weren’t the kind he makes at Franklin’s Gardens. He will be that much better for the experience of playing at Murrayfield. I think what Dowson did for the remainder of the match warranted giving him another go.
I thought Chris Ashton looked good. I have never questioned attitude on the pitch, he has always run his heart out for Northampton and England. My issue is the way things have been handled off the pitch. He had very little opportunity and made one mistake where he ran away from his support players and got turned over, but in a match where it was hard to create anything for himself, he looked for the ball as hard as anybody. He didn’t look like somebody low on confidence.
Jim Mallinder is a pragmatist and as disappointed as he was to hear Ashton’s future will not be at the Gardens he will pick best 23 from now until the end of season to get into the Premiership’s top four. And if he feels Chris’ attitude is right and he is playing the way he can there is no question a fully functioning Ashton would be worth his place in any team.
If he plays well for England it will be absolutely integral to Saints. Chris is probably more sensitive than the likes to let on and he would have ben bruised by the outside perception of him. Clearly coaches have expressed their disappointment at the way negotiations with Saracens have been handled and then there is the fall out from the World Cup, so it has probably been toughest time of his life as a professional player. We understand he has had awful personal tragedies to deal with, but as a player he will have experienced nothing like this. From being England and Saints golden boy, he now has something to prove. It doesn’t surprise me that far from shrinking from that challenge he is rising to it and that will benefit England.
Well done to Lee Dickson. The biggest compliment you can pay is that he made a difference when he came on. At a time when England were starting to hang on he added a presence and a pace to the game that probably dismayed Scotland. His introduction was first rate, I would not have been the only one raising half-a-pint of ale in his direction.
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