'Do you think I left for nothing?' - Chris Ashton hints at why he left Sale Sharks mid-season
Former Sale Sharks winger Chris Ashton has hinted at the reasons as to why he left the club, hints that suggest he didn’t leave because of the ‘style of play’ under Director of Rugby Steve Diamond.
Earlier this week Sale announced the shock departure of the long-serving, who had spent more than ten years building the team up. The official line has been that Diamond is ‘leaving for personal reasons’ but many have been left scratching their heads as to root cause of the upheaval at the club.
Ashton played under Diamond for a season and a half, before he and Sale parted ways earlier this year. The England wing signed for the club in 2018 from Toulon to much fanfare, but dramatically left in March, 2020 by ‘mutual agreement’. Now Ashton, who refused to be drawn on the exact reason he left, has dropped some heavy hints as to why things went south at Sharks, leading him to literally head south to Harlequins.
“Do you think I left for nothing?” Ashton told Jim Hamilton The Offload podcast. “Steve’s words were that I left because of the style of play. I’ll leave it at that.
“It’s not my place to say. I don’t know what’s gone on. I just know why I left and why I decided to move on.”
Some at the time surmised that he had been approached by Harlequins, but the Wigan born try-scorer confirmed that this was not the case and that move only came after he left.
“I actually had no club. I left Sale without a club [to go to], which again, is that not strange?”
“It’s not [a Chris Asthon thing to do}. I went to Toulon from Saracens because it was a life-changing opportunity. That’s why people go.
“I came back because I’m from the north, I wanted to settle there in the north and play for Sale. Is it really a Chris Ashton thing to do? Just to leave a club like that [mid-season]? It’s not.”
“I don’t know what’s gone on. Steve’s left. I don’t know. Personal reasons. Who knows what they might be Big Jim.”
Hilarious full interview with Chris Ashton over on RugbyPass' YT channel ?
Chris Ashton reflects on calling James Lowe, too big and slow after Ireland played England at Twickenham! #IrishRugby #EnglandRugby #AllAccess pic.twitter.com/AGCYzizF0n
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 10, 2020
In a previous interview Ashton has suggested that his and Diamond’s relationship was poor. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast, Ashton explained: “I didn’t feel as though we had the relationship that I’d hoped for.
“We did bang heads on a few things but it’s only because I wanted the club to get better and win. It was never any other way than that.
“It is a shock that Steve said that and it’s a shock he said it to me last Monday night, that he felt that way. I could have gone in and said I want to change this opinion you have of me but I didn’t necessarily believe it was right.
“After I got home from my meeting (with Diamond) my mum and missus said ‘what’s wrong with you’. I must have been as white as some kitchen cupboards. They said ‘what’s up?’ ‘I haven’t got a job, I don’t think I’ve got a job’ – it was that fast.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments