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The appearance of Brian Ashton at Pennyhill has set Twitter tongues wagging

Will Carling and Brian Ashton
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Fans have been giving their views on Twitter after former coach Brian Ashton was seen with the England team at Pennyhill Park yesterday.

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Ashton is one of the most revered minds in world rugby when it comes to his attacking philosophy, and has been called upon by many teams, including the All Blacks, to offer his wisdom.

In light of his appearance, this is what some fans said:

https://twitter.com/skillacq/status/1102927143330295808
https://twitter.com/shaftoflame/status/1102920994228973568
https://twitter.com/sharkybathman/status/1102908979221590017
https://twitter.com/PaulWalker1973/status/1102913051223834625
https://twitter.com/LackOfToast/status/1102907664789430276

It is clear that these fans see Ashton as an underrated and underused asset that England have wisely called up. Eddie Jones has not been averse to calling on a number of people from all walks of life to aid and improve his team. Already this Six Nations he has had visits from the Georgian rugby team and former England Football captain John Terry- an example of the range of external influences he calls upon.

Throughout his tenure as coach, he has used many more.
Although Ashton’s reign as head coach may not be remembered as the greatest, his reputation as one of the most astute minds in the game has remained. In light of England’s most recent performance against Wales at Cardiff, they could benefit greatly from his input.

Jones’ men seemed to lack any attacking potency at the Principality Stadium, and were heavily reliant on their kicking game, which did not get them very far. Although it is unlikely there will be a complete revolution of the team in a fortnight, particularly as England had performed so well up until round three, the former Bath coach can still impart some knowledge.

Jones has persistently said that there is a lot more to come from his England team, and they are still very rough around the edges. Their performance against Wales was clear that there is a lot of work to do, but using the services of someone like Ashton will only help, and the fans clearly agree.

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Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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