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"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play…it is war minus the shooting."

George Orwell

Splashdown

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The story of my World Cup Year, Chris Ashton, London, Simon and Schuster, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-85720-803-3

If anyone is reading this book in the hope of getting the full inside story of the World Cup debacle, they will be disappointed. Ashton denies that he made the lewd comments to a chambermaid for which he was fined. It was just “some banter”. He also states categorically that no dwarf throwing occurred. Again his claim that “The publicity was incredible really as all we did was go out for a few drinks...MikeTindall got most of the flak but that’s because he’s married to Zara Phillips” is quite how the RFU saw it.

His assessment of the World Cup was: “When you add together all the things that happened to us in New Zealand it does seem like a lot, and issues like that could have derailed the squad. It seemed at one point that anything and everything was being used against us at the World Cup. But if anything it brought us closer together and with the terrible things that are happening in the world at the moment we do need to get some sort of perspective. There are more important things to worry about… Regrets? I regret us going out in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals but otherwise have nothing to regret – it has all helped me gain experience and learn some lessons”. The blandness is inevitable in a book by a player who still have most of his career ahead of him.

That said, Chris Ashton is one of the leading rugby players in the world at the moment and an account of his phenomenal year makes easy and interesting reading. He came to prominence with his autumn 2010 try against Australia when he ran the length of the field. As he put it, having got the ball he kept running like Forrest Gump! “As a child watching Wigan, I had dreamed about playing for England and scoring a try the full length of the field in front of 80,000 people, and there I was doing it”.

The death of his father clearly hit him hard and that comes up several places in the story. It is great regret that his Dad who was a great mentor and supporter only saw him play once for England. “What I’ve learned from the passing of my dad is that life is never straightforward. I always thought it was”.

Two insights that surprised me were the sledging that goes on in international rugby and the drinking culture. As Johnny Sexton was taking a penalty, Ashton was “giving him abuse… saying ‘Don’t miss it’ and ‘You’re rubbish’”. There is an account of an England debutant being made to have 22 drinks – one chosen by each team mate. Ashton adds, “I made him drink about five vodkas in a pint of lager”.

His account of being punched by Manu Tuilagi in the Premiership Final is interesting. Reconciliation was achievement but Ashton was clearly irritated that there was no apology.

As someone who works at the interface of faith and sport, I was particularly interested in Ashton’s comments on Euan Murray moving from Northampton to Newcastle. “The issue centred around Euan’s religious beliefs, which meant he refused to play on a Sunday. We had been together in the side since my first season in union in 2007-08 in Division I, and it was clear Euan was becoming more and more religious over the years. You would see him in the town centre giving out leaflets, and when he signed autographs he would put a Bible reference underneath. Euan is a great bloke and, as he proved on the 2009 Lions tour, and again in the 2011 World Cup, a great player. I was sorry to see him go. As far as I’m concerned it’s a case of ’each to their own’ but the selection issue was making it difficult for him to be part of the squad as we seem to have more and more matches on a Sunday. Euan put himself out of the picture by not being available on Sundays, finally moving to a club who play their home games on a Friday night”.

An easy read with some insights into elite sport but not too many secrets!



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