Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Now I'm close to it, the actual main goal is to beat Mark Cueto'

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Chris Ashton has arrived at Worcester with every ambition of surpassing Tom Varndell in the record books as the all-time highest Premiership try-scorer, but he quipped at his first Warriors media conference that he would happily settle for just the three tries needed to move ahead of former Sale talisman Mark Cueto. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The retired Varndell leads the way at the top of the all-time chart in England with 92 tries, two more than the similarly retired Cueto and four clear of Ashton who is sitting in third place on the list. 

Ashton scored twice during his six Premiership appearances for Harlequins over the past ten months and rather than potentially having limited exposure between now and the end of this season, he has signed an 18-month deal at Worcester and hopes to get cracking as soon as this Saturday’s visit by champions Exeter to Sixways.

Video Spacer

Chris Ashton’s first interview as a Worcester player

Video Spacer

Chris Ashton’s first interview as a Worcester player

Asked about being so close to making history and becoming the Premiership’s most potent finisher ever, Ashton said: “It’s never something you ever really aim for. If you play the game long enough you will eventually get there at some point being in my position. 

“I’m just getting to that stage. I have been very fortunate to play in some great teams over the years which always helped. So now I’m close to it, the actual main goal is to beat Mark Cueto. 

“That is still the focus of it really. I’m not too bothered by it. It’s there and when you are that close it would be nice to get past Cueto, but I would take winning any day over getting that kind of record. Generally when you win I manage to get a try, so hopefully they both can go hand in hand.”

So many of Ashton’s tries over the years were accompanied by his Ash-splash dive, showmanship that spectators of the clubs he played with enjoyed immensely. However, matches are now currently being played behind closed doors and the lack of atmosphere is something Ashton still finds strange. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“I have really struggled with that,” he admitted. “I’m not shying away from that at all… I have definitely struggled with not having that interaction. It’s definitely part of a big reason why I play the game and want to be out on the weekend playing in front of fans. I’m slowly getting used to it, but I’m hoping I don’t have to get used to it for too much longer.

“I would love to break the record,” he later added. “I feel like I’m 40 tries away at the minute, not four. I’m really just a bit conscious that it has been said quite a lot to me. I don’t really want it to. I just want to be there when I’m past it and I can crack on.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Boks Office | Episode 36 | Six Nations Round 3 Review

England A vs Ireland A | Full Match Replay

HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Men's Day Three Highlights

HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Women's Day Three Highlights

"I would love to play with Siya Kolisi" | HSBC Life on Tour | Vancouver

Kubota Spears vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | JRLO 2024/2025 | Full Match Replay

Behind the Scenes with the Stars of the Kenya Rugby Sevens Team | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 7

O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 3 | France Week

Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

R
RedWarriors 36 minutes ago
The Springbok selection experiment is far from over

SA won two world cups but since 1987 there have been major issues with the draw and scheduling.


Lets look at Scotland and England. Scotland were ranked #9 immediately after RWC 2019.

They were ranked #7 a few months after and by 2023 they were ranked #5 in the world.

England were ranked #3 after RWC 2019 but by 2023 were #7 a full 3 ranking points behind Scotland.

There are 4 Pools. Because World Rugby used rankings from 2019, England were ranked #1 in their pool in with Argentina and Japan and Scotland were ranked #3 in their pool in with South Africa and Ireland. The pools went as youd expect: Scotland were eliminated and England got through to a QF where they got to play Fiji and scraped through to a semi.

At the end of that tournament England were now a full 3 ranking points ahead of Scotland. This wasn’t due to better rugby. It was entirely due to the draw.

Now England are in #6, Scotland are in #7 and England are favourites to be #1 Pool seeds (6 pool) in 2027 and Scotland will end up as #2 seeds.

In effect Scotland are still reeling from the draw in 2023 which was based on the rankings in 2027.

Considering the amount of admirable effort, money etc that Scotland have put into improving this is an utterly unforgivable outcome from World Rugby.

This isnt new Draw disasters and scheduling bias has been going on since the start.

The ONLY reason it is being dealt with now is because NZ and SA were affected and the world could see how ridiculous it was having the QFs with opponents that should be in SFs, and having great teams like Scotland not even qualify from their Pool.


(I don’t have beef with SA beyond their (and the Kiwis) high proportion of arrogant, brash supporters (see abuse directed at me above) and in the case of the NZ team, lack of respect for other teams.)

35 Go to comments
R
RedWarriors 57 minutes ago
The Springbok selection experiment is far from over

Everyone agreed that the draw was absurd. NZ and SA were the most vocal in criticism before the Pool stages, but then the narrative changed after their squeeked through the QFs.

The reason you had to play France and England was because you lost to Ireland.

The draw helped you in that you got to play France in a QF where none of their players had knock-out winning experience. You play England first and then France, and your task becomes significantly harder. If you are also scheduled to play #5 ranked Scotland the week before France then you lose.


I thought Ireland did rise for the NZ match. Inside a week after Scotland and with resultant fatigue and injury. NZ prepared for a year for that match including identifying a potential infringemnt in Porters scrummaging which yielded 4 penalties. The NZ scrum coach remarked that the ref spent every scrum looking at Porter and not at NZ front row. Kudos, thats clever.


The fact we got within one score and went out attacking in their 22 shows we were right up for it. Particularly given NZ were so much better than SA in the final (except for the red).


Hats off to SA. But the idea that SA are a match for the great NZ team of the 2010s is ludicrous. SA were not the best team in there pool in both 2029 and 2023. They are average in between world cups. They have lost in 4 out of 5 matches against one opponent. Sorry but there it is.


(Anyone can spot a troll, using personal abuse against a person’s opinion being a pretty reliable indicator.)

35 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Does a crowd have the right to boo their team if they're not being entertained? Does a crowd have the right to boo their team if they're not being entertained?
Search