Saints winger Ashton issues warning to rivals
Chris Ashton has warned the Aviva Premiership he will be even better this season after his England experience in the summer.
Ashton took the top flight by storm to finish as the league's top-scorer with 16 last season and his predatory instincts saw him crowned Guinness Premiership Player of the Year.
And with just two days to go before the big kick-off against champions and east midlands rivals Leicester, Ashton believes the England summer tour of Australia has brought him up another level.
Ashton, whose 16 tries came in 20 Premiership appearances, said: "The tour was very successful, I didn't think what did happen would happen, I went with the flow and hoped for the best.
It turned out really well, I couldn't have asked much more from it.
"For the four-and-half weeks on tour I learned a lot from the players around me and hopefully I can take it into this season and step up again."
Ashton scored his first international try in the 21-20 second Test win over Australia. That was a weight off his shoulders and proved he can perform at the highest level.
"The try was quite important to me," said Ashton. "I was glad to get over for one. It was my first in three games, I hadn't gone three games without a try for a long time.
"That was a boost and I learned a lot from the tour and being with those players. It is the little things, things you can't really practice, you watch people and how they move around the pitch and you take it in. Sometimes you don't even realise you are taking it in. It is just training with those kind of players, you pick up on things and you feel a level ahead sometimes.
"Just being around those kind of people day-in, day-out and training with them, you have got to be on top of your game every training session really."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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