Chris Ashton of the Saracens is facing two biting charges that could see him out of the action for at least six months if he was proved guilty. But, Chris is determined to prove that he is innocent in this case.
This is what he set to achieve when he met up with the disciplinary hearing committee of the Rugby Football Union on Tuesday.
Ashton was seen to be biting Alex Waller, the Northampton prop, twice within a minute’s time during the Saracens game against the Northampton team at Allianz Park last Sunday. The director of rugby of the Saracens team, Mark McCall, is hoping that Ashton’s name will be cleared by the disciplinary committee and he will escape from any serious punishment.
Ashton was joined by team director McCall and a legal representative J P O’Reilly to the hearing held in London. He wanted to plead not guilty to both the biting charges so that he would not see a premature end to this season. He was also having high hopes of receiving an England recall. But, all this is now hinging on the decision the disciplinary committee makes.
McCall said that Ashton was stressed out and anxious about the aftermath of the last incident he was involved in. He was banned for 10 weeks for making a contact with the eye of Luke Marshall of Ulster center last season. Ashton took part in the training with the Saracens at their base before heading to London for the hearing. McCall and everyone at Saracens hope that he is found to be not guilty and is waiting to see how it all pans out.
McCall feels that allegations seem to follow Ashton and they cannot do anything about it, but only support their player. The team and the management at Saracens have extended their full support for Ashton and are backing him to the core.