'It was all Mike Brown, I reckon': Chris Ashton reviews stunning try that puts him 4 short of all-time Premiership record
Chris Ashton has reviewed the absolute stunner of a try he finished off last Sunday for Harlequins at The Stoop, a score that has left him just four more tries away from pulling level with Tom Varndell, the Premiership’s long-time all-time record try-scorer.
Ashton’s has scored twice in his three post-lockdown appearances for Harlequins, the club he joined in March following his hurried exit from Sale Sharks. That puts him on six tries for the 2019/20 season, four behind Ollie Thorley who bagged four in a single afternoon last weekend versus Leicester.
More importantly, his latest score versus Northampton moved him onto 88 Premiership career tries, four less than Varndell’s celebrated 92 and just two behind Mark Cueto on 90.
The score stemmed from Mike Brown faking to kick clear from the 22, embarking on a break where he offloaded to the supporting Alex Dombrant and the No8 then put Ashton in the clear for a try he has now reviewed Harlequins’ social media.
“It was all Mike Brown, I reckon,” he said. “We have a play here to do a kicking exit plan but Mike Brown, being the player he is, he felt a bit of pressure, stepped, handed someone off, found the gap and offloads. That was all Brownie.
🤳 "It's all @mikebrown_15 I reckon."
💦 Ashy watches back his try from Sunday and praises the roles of Browny & @Alex_dombrandt. #COYQ pic.twitter.com/djvPWFqDLd
— Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) September 2, 2020
“And a hell of a 15-metre pass from Dombrandt. His work rate has gone through the roof in attack and defence. I have had a few clubs and to see a lad hitting lines like he does off the nine and tens, there’s not many people in the league who can do that.
“I’d liked to have got closer (to him) because at the time I knew how quick he was moving. There wasn’t time for me to get closer so I just had to back him… I’d every faith he was going to play that pass.”
Having had to wait five months to make his club debut due to the lockdown suspension of the Premiership, Ashton believes his recent run of games has at last allowed him to familiarise himself with his Harlequins teammates. He is now looking forward to next Saturday when he can finally play in front of some of their fans.
The Londoners have been permitted to allow 3,500 people to attend versus Bath, a pilot event as the UK Government ramps up the ability for the public to gather again in large numbers. “It takes more time than what people think,” said Ashton, the England international winger, about his adjustment to playing for Harlequins following stints at Sale, Toulon and Saracens in recent years.
“You’ve got to get used to new systems and playing different players, you have got to get used to how they operate and how they move and you can only get used to that from playing really, training is very different. Some of it is really hard to replicate in games so the more games I’ll get the more I get used to how people move around the pitch and hopefully I can get more and more involved.
“It has been probably since school since I played two games in a week. I probably felt it on Sunday night at home. But I’m enjoying the mix in scheduling. It’s new, it’s different. We have done the same thing for so long, playing relentlessly on the weekend. It’s quite nice. Everyone gets a chance and it’s good to mix it up.
“It’s great that we are the first club to be able to do it,” he added about the prospect of the fans coming to The Stoop. “Some of the lads might not relate to it as much as me but I really do because the position I am on the pitch, I’m closer to them. Sometimes I’ll have a chat with them if there isn’t much going on. I’m happy they are back… I’ve very grateful we are the first to let them back in.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to comments