Chris Ashton is slammed as ‘rugby’s Luis Suarez’ after shocking double bite on Northampton prop Alex Waller
England winger copped a 13-week ban for incident while former Liverpool striker was suspended for four months
CHRIS ASHTON has been slammed as the Luis Suarez of rugby.
Australia winger Drew Mitchell laid into his England rival after he was slapped with a 13-week ban for biting.
Ashton’s sentence for sinking his teeth into Northampton prop Alex Waller last Saturday is just shy of Suarez’s four-month punishment for gnashing on Italy footballer Giorgio Chiellini in 2014.
Ashton and Mitchell were due to clash next month when Saracens kick off their European title defence against Toulon.
But with Ashton not allowed to play for Sarries until December 19, Mitchell delivered a verbal hit.
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Take it on chin, pal
By Dylan Hartley
CHRIS ASHTON isn’t the kind of guy who would set out to bite anyone.
But incidents like this are self-inflicted and you have to take it on the chin — I know that more than most.
Being banned from doing what you love is tough and I have some sympathy for my good mate. But the disciplinary process is tough for a reason.
My advice to him would be to keep his head down — find a way of distancing yourself from the furore — and come back stronger and more disciplined.
I texted Ashy after the game and told him I knew how he felt.
Regardless of the rights and wrongs of what’s happened it’s a truly horrible place to be. In the build-up to his hearing on Tuesday, I’m sure he was probably thinking the worst.
Rugby is your world, you are in so deep and you think it is the most important thing ever.
But what I would also say to Chris is: make the most of this time you will get with your family.
Find some perspective, keep training and I’m sure we will see a focussed and determined Ashy back in December.
The 71-cap Wallaby tweeted: “@ChrisAshton1 is not the Mario Balotelli of rugby... he is the Luis Suarez! There are NO excuses.”
Former England centre Will Greenwood had said of Ashton: “He’s Mario Balotelli. Someone give him a T-shirt, ‘Why Always Me?’.”
Barcelona and Uruguay star Suarez also served a ten-game ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic when playing for Liverpool.
Suarez never managed to shrug off the shame at Anfield — and Ashton may now face a similar ordeal at Allianz Park.
Northampton skipper Tom Wood also stuck the boot into his old team-mate.
Ashton was accused of biting Waller twice inside 60 seconds and Wood said: “He gets himself into some trouble and from that point of view I am not overly surprised.
“I am somewhat shocked that anyone bites anyone in the modern game. There is not a place for it and I am amazed it has happened.
“I have never understood a bite in a game. It has never crossed my path. I have never been involved in one, or on the receiving end.”
Ashton’s Saracens team-mate Petrus du Plessis tweeted: “Ashton’s ban is absurd...!”
Sarries will decide today if they will appeal when they receive a copy of the full written evidence.