The reason Wigglesworth now admires Chris Ashton more than ever
Interim Leicester boss Richard Wigglesworth has paid Chris Ashton quite a tribute at his latest midweek media briefing. The 30-something ex-England pair go way back, first playing together at club level with Saracens for numerous seasons before getting reunited last spring when Ashton became a free-agent addition to Steve Borthwick’s Tigers roster.
Leicester went on to win the Gallagher Premiership title, defeating Saracens in a memorable Twickenham final last June. Now fresh from their latest win over the Londoners, a Welford Road fixture last Sunday where Wigglesworth picked Ashton on the wing, the former scrum-half has spoken about how helpful his former teammate has been now that their roles are suddenly very different at the club.
It was mid-December when Wigglesworth retired from playing with immediate effect in order to take over from the England-bound Borthwick as the emergency head coach until the end of the 2022/23 season. That resulted overnight in his relationships with teammates changing as he was now the boss rather than a fellow player with them in the dressing room.
That could have created awkwardness but in the case of Ashton, Wigglesworth has been chuffed by how his friend has helped him find his feet in the Leicester head coach role without blurring the lines between coach and player.
“A ball of energy is Chris,” said Wigglesworth when asked by RugbyPass to assess how Ashton has fared so far in a season where the next assignment for Leicester is this Saturday’s Premiership trip to London Irish.
“I’ll tell you what he has been really good with me: we are obviously pretty close, we played for a long time together at Saracens. But he has kept that (separate). He probably knew how tough the role was for me in terms of how it happened, the retirement and stuff. He was really good for me in terms of how professional he has been with that relationship.
“Whenever I have had to have a one-on-one with him or any conversations with him, he has kept it very coach-player. He could have if he wanted to try and pull on the personal relationship and he hasn’t.”
Ashton had bounced around a number of Premiership clubs without making much of an impression until he was snapped up this time last year by Leicester, Borthwick taking a gamble that the veteran would be a good fit for the Tigers despite his troubled spells with Worcester, Harlequins and Sale.
Twenty-four appearances and 10 tries later, Wigglesworth explained why Ashon has proved invaluable to Leicester. “Because Chris is a professional who wants to win and who wants to get trained well.
“In the environments where that doesn’t happen, he might have ended up struggling whereas he came to us and immediately was like this is a serious setup and I think he knew it was time he had to go right this is now or never. So we got him at the right time but I think we were a good fit for him as well.”
Having played himself until the age of 39, Wigglesworth has nothing but admiration for veteran players such as Ashton who keep putting the necessary effort in. “It’s your mentality to want to do it because it’s harder when you are older but only because you have done it for so long.
“So do you want to train in the same way, do you want to keep adapting, do you want to keep trying to move your game on, have you got the hunger for every cold training session every morning, every night away, have you got the hunger to do that? If you have and you’re lucky then you have got a chance. All the guys in our old brigade are like that.”
Speaking of good fits, how does Wigglesworth rate his own first two months as interim head coach, a position he will hold until the end of the season when he leaves to become an England assistant under Borthwick?
“It’s a very humbling job in terms of how much you get wrong because you have got to make so many decisions, there are so many little things that happen every day that you’d always want back. I’d struggle to put my finger on one because there are probably hundreds of little things that I have got wrong because it is that fast-moving and that fast-paced that you have to take it.
“The thing I have done is I have learned so much. The one bit of the job I have really enjoyed is how hopefully I have improved and how much you learn in this job. The next time that I’m given the opportunity (to be a head coach), this experience for me will be invaluable.”
How has Wigglesworth managed his work-life balance as a rookie head coach? “My wife would say I don’t have a work-life balance. That is what she’d say. I have got three kids, got a boy who loves rugby and football so I get to go and watch him, try and organise that time if the games allow.
“My eldest girl is into netball and hockey… and I have a three-year-old Margot who is busy shall we say, so whenever I am at home and not in the office she definitely distracts me,” he quipped.
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t enjoy drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games 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.
2 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 commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments