Chris Ashton has been suspended for 13 weeks after a three-strong disciplinary panel meeting in London on Tuesday night upheld one charge of biting during Saracens' victory over Northampton on Saturday but threw out a second. The England wing, who has the right to appeal, will be free to play again on 19 December.
Ashton was cited for biting the arm of the Saints prop Alex Waller twice in one minute in the first-half of the match. He denied both charges, which meant that when he was found guilty of the first count there were no mitigating factors to reduce his suspension from the lower-end estimate of 12 weeks. He was given an extra week because he was banned for 10 weeks in January for putting his hand near the eye area of an opponent.
Ashton was represented by a lawyer at the RFU hearing which lasted for nearly five hours. Had he been found guilty on both counts, he would have faced a ban of at least 26 weeks. His latest lay-off means that he has no chance of being named in England’s elite squad next week.
“Having considered detailed evidence the panel concluded that during the course of a ruck Chris Ashton bit the arm of Alex Waller at a time that Mr Waller was attempting to clear him out,” said the chairman of the panel, Philip Evans QC. “The panel concluded it was a low-end entry point aggravated by his previous record.”
Saracens will stand by their player. “What I am hearing is absolutely not the Chris Ashton I know,” said the club’s chairman, Nigel Wray. “I very much hope that Chris is not forced out of English rugby because he is a very well-liked and respected member of our family, one of the hardest workers in the game. I am not a lawyer, but if this were a legal matter the case would not come to court.”
The implication was that the 29-year old Ashton would, once his suspension was completed, look at finishing his career in France or return to rugby league having left Wigan for Northampton in 2007.
“Chris has been incredibly stressed and anxious about the repercussions of this,” said the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, on Tuesday.
(Guardian service)
