Brian Ashton (rugby player)
Encyclopedia
William Brian Ashton MBE
(born 3 September 1946 in Leigh
, Lancashire
) is a former rugby union
player and the former Head Coach
of the England
and Ireland
national rugby union teams.
father Albert, who played professional rugby league
on the weekends for Leigh RLFC
in 1940. Bright enough to earn a place at Grammar school
, he attended Lancaster Royal Grammar School
- one of the few local schools to teach and play rugby union
over rugby league.
in their international banking division. His old games master from Leigh Grammar Keith Elleray took him to Tyldesley RUFC, where Ashton played fly-half in his first season in 1965/6, before Elleray retired and Ashton took over his preferred position of scrum-half for 1966/67.
Although offered professional terms by various Rugby League clubs, Ashton moved to Fylde
- where his team-mates included Roger Uttley
and Bill Beaumont
- and then to Orrell
from 1973 to be closer to his Leigh home. On finding his chances limited, he started training as a school teacher, where his first post was at Hutton Grammar School
, Preston brought about by the head master's requirement to introduce rugby.
Ashton never represented England — the closest he came was as an unused bench replacement on 15 March 1975 against Scotland
. He played representational rugby for Lancashire, England North, England tourists and the Barbarians
.
His friend Dick Greenwood
- England international and later father of Will Greenwood
- persuaded Ashton to extend his career by playing in France
for AS Montferrand
, and then in Italy
with Roma and Milan: which as a result of the later two, he speaks Italian.
He was persuaded to return to England in 1980 to take up the position of history teacher and rugby master by then assistant-bursar
Dick Greenwood at Stonyhurst College
where Kyran Bracken
was a pupil at the time and to whom he taught history. His local teaching counterparts included Ray French. He met Jack Rowell
in the summer of 1985, when he toured New Zealand
as assistant coach with England A
. Four years later Ashton was offered an accepted a job as backs coach job at Bath Rugby
, resultantly moving to teach history and coach various sports at King's School, Bruton
, Somerset
from 1989, where his wife also worked as a teacher.
Ashton, built his credentials on an expansive approach. In his first spell as Head Coach
, led Bath
to their last domestic trophy in 1996. As Assistant Coach of Bath, under Jack Rowell
, he helped establish Bath as the dominant team in English rugby for a decade to the mid-1990s.
He had a brief and unsuccessful spell as National Coach of Ireland
from 1997 to 1998. Ashton had been awarded a six year contract by the IRFU but resigned 12 months later after a series of disappointing results, and against a background where private arguments or disagreements with the team manager, Pat Whelan, were frequently aired in public.
Ashton was Sir Clive Woodward
's assistant from 1998 to 2002. Ashton was the RFU's National Academy Manager from 2002 to 2005. In this role Ashton played a key part in the launch of England Rugby’s National Academy system since its inception in 2002, creating the Junior and Senior National Academies to develop the most talented players at England A, Sevens, Under 21 and Under 19 level. Ashton also coached some of these feeder teams, including England A.
In 2005, Ashton returned to Bath as head coach, but in January 2006 he was in agreement with Bath appointed as England attack coach from May 2006 to assist head coach Andy Robinson
, alongside forwards' coach John Wells
and defence coach Mike Ford.
On 20 December 2006 Ashton was appointed England head coach, following the departure of Andy Robinson. He chose Phil Vickery
as his captain. Ashton won his first two games in charge of the England team, firstly the Calcutta Cup
tie against Scotland and secondly beating Italy at Twickenham
, but led the English team to a crushing defeat against the Irish National Team on his third outing. The 43–13 defeat by Ireland was England's worst ever defeat by Ireland in the 132 years of competition between the two sides.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup
campaign started badly: the team narrowly beat the amateurs of the United States
, and went on to lose 36–0 to South Africa
; however, having finished their group as runners up, they went on to record a shock victory over Australia
, won a very tight semi-final against France 14–9, and lost a closely fought final to South Africa in the final 15–6. Although calls for his replacement came from England stalwart Lawrence Dallaglio
(which were later withdrawn by Dallaglio saying "it was wrong of me to comment on him like I did"), Ashton was retained by the RFU for the 2008 season.
Ashton has previously said, "My main strength is as a coach. I see my job as improving players individually, to do the technical work with them, and also to establish the environment, the framework, in which the players operate." Ashton's philosophy is that the backs comprise three creative forces (the scrum-half, the fly-half and the inside-centre) and four penetrative finishers (the outside- centre, the two wings and the full-back). On 20 December 2007, Ashton was reconfirmed as manager of the English national team by the RFU with an indefinite length contract.
However, on 16 April 2008 Martin Johnson was appointed England team manager with effect from 1 July 2008, with Ashton leaving the post immediately. Ashton was offered the role of head coach of the RFU's National Academy, but declined this position.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours
.
In September 2008 he was appointed director of coaching at the University of Bath and also successfully coached the Oxord University Blues team to Twickenham success in the 2008 Varsity match.
On 29 June 2010 it was announced Brian was to return to his old club Fylde to become a coaching consultant to the senior squad. He said he is prepared to contribute as much time as he can spare to assisting Head Coach Mark Nelson in the development of Fylde's senior squad. Fylde won National League 2 North 10/11 and Ashton signed for Fylde for the 2011/12 season as Technical Director.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 3 September 1946 in Leigh
Leigh, Greater Manchester
Leigh is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Wigan, and west of Manchester. Leigh is situated on low lying land to the north west of Chat Moss....
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
) is a former rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player and the former Head Coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
of the England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
and Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
national rugby union teams.
Biography
Ashton was born in Leigh, Lancashire to a textile weaver mother and coal minerCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
father Albert, who played professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
on the weekends for Leigh RLFC
Leigh Centurions
Leigh Centurions is an English professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester who play in the Co-operative Championship.The club was founded in 1878 as Leigh Rugby Football Club and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in...
in 1940. Bright enough to earn a place at Grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, he attended Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Lancaster Royal Grammar School is a voluntary aided, selective grammar school for boys in Lancaster, England. The school has been awarded specialist Technology College and Language College status. Old boys belong to The Old Lancastrians...
- one of the few local schools to teach and play rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
over rugby league.
Playing history
After leaving school, Ashton started working for Trustee Savings BankTrustee Savings Bank
The Trustee Savings Bank was a British financial institution which specialised in accepting savings deposits from the poor. They did not trade their shares on the stock market and, unlike mutually held building societies, depositors had no voting rights nor the ability to direct the financial and...
in their international banking division. His old games master from Leigh Grammar Keith Elleray took him to Tyldesley RUFC, where Ashton played fly-half in his first season in 1965/6, before Elleray retired and Ashton took over his preferred position of scrum-half for 1966/67.
Although offered professional terms by various Rugby League clubs, Ashton moved to Fylde
Fylde Rugby Club
Fylde Rugby Union Club is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. Its home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell...
- where his team-mates included Roger Uttley
Roger Uttley
Roger Miles Uttley OBE MA is a former English rugby union player.- Career :He played 23 games for England both in the second row and the back row, 5 times as captain, 4 tests in the Lions back row on the undefeated 1974 tour to South Africa.Roger was born in Blackpool, and played first for...
and Bill Beaumont
Bill Beaumont
William "Bill" Blackledge Beaumont CBE was captain of the England rugby union team at a time when they struggled to win games. His greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand Slam. He played as a lock...
- and then to Orrell
Orrell R.U.F.C.
Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union team from the Orrell area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.The club were founded in 1927, holding a place in the top-tier of rugby union from 1986 to 1997.-1927–1939:...
from 1973 to be closer to his Leigh home. On finding his chances limited, he started training as a school teacher, where his first post was at Hutton Grammar School
Hutton Grammar School
Hutton Grammar School is a Voluntary Aided Church of England day school for boys, with a co-educational Sixth Form. It is located south west of Preston, Lancashire, in Hutton, England. The school no longer offers boarding, and offers education for boys from ages of 11 through to 16, with the Sixth...
, Preston brought about by the head master's requirement to introduce rugby.
Ashton never represented England — the closest he came was as an unused bench replacement on 15 March 1975 against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
. He played representational rugby for Lancashire, England North, England tourists and the Barbarians
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
.
His friend Dick Greenwood
Dick Greenwood
John Richard Heaton Greenwood is a former rugby union international flanker, captain of Waterloo, Cambridge University, Lancashire and England as well as national coach...
- England international and later father of Will Greenwood
Will Greenwood
William John Heaton "Will" Greenwood, MBE is an English former rugby union footballer of the 1990s and 2000s.-Career:...
- persuaded Ashton to extend his career by playing in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for AS Montferrand
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne are a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system, ASMCA are the were the 2010 France Top 14 Champions. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club...
, and then in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
with Roma and Milan: which as a result of the later two, he speaks Italian.
Coaching career
Ashton has coached rugby at club and international level, and has a reputation as one of the best backs coaches in world rugby.He was persuaded to return to England in 1980 to take up the position of history teacher and rugby master by then assistant-bursar
Bursar
A bursar is a senior professional financial administrator in a school or university.Billing of student tuition accounts are the responsibility of the Office of the Bursar. This involves sending bills and making payment plans with the ultimate goal of getting the student accounts paid off...
Dick Greenwood at Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...
where Kyran Bracken
Kyran Bracken
Kyran Paul Patrick Bracken MBE is a former English rugby union footballer who played at scrum-half for Saracens, Bristol and Waterloo R.F.C....
was a pupil at the time and to whom he taught history. His local teaching counterparts included Ray French. He met Jack Rowell
Jack Rowell
Jack Rowell OBE is a former coach of rugby union sides including Bath and England.-Coaching:Between 1978 and 1994 Rowell coached Bath during their golden era, winning eight John Player/Pilkington Cups and five League Championships....
in the summer of 1985, when he toured New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
as assistant coach with England A
England Saxons
England Saxons is the current name of England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England A...
. Four years later Ashton was offered an accepted a job as backs coach job at Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...
, resultantly moving to teach history and coach various sports at King's School, Bruton
King's School, Bruton
King's Bruton is an independent fully co-educational secondary day and boarding school based in Bruton, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1519 by Richard FitzJames, and received royal foundation status around 30 years later in the reign of Edward VI...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
from 1989, where his wife also worked as a teacher.
Ashton, built his credentials on an expansive approach. In his first spell as Head Coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
, led Bath
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...
to their last domestic trophy in 1996. As Assistant Coach of Bath, under Jack Rowell
Jack Rowell
Jack Rowell OBE is a former coach of rugby union sides including Bath and England.-Coaching:Between 1978 and 1994 Rowell coached Bath during their golden era, winning eight John Player/Pilkington Cups and five League Championships....
, he helped establish Bath as the dominant team in English rugby for a decade to the mid-1990s.
He had a brief and unsuccessful spell as National Coach of Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
from 1997 to 1998. Ashton had been awarded a six year contract by the IRFU but resigned 12 months later after a series of disappointing results, and against a background where private arguments or disagreements with the team manager, Pat Whelan, were frequently aired in public.
Ashton was Sir Clive Woodward
Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward OBE is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He is currently the British Olympic Association's Director of Elite Performance.-Early life:Woodward was born in Ely...
's assistant from 1998 to 2002. Ashton was the RFU's National Academy Manager from 2002 to 2005. In this role Ashton played a key part in the launch of England Rugby’s National Academy system since its inception in 2002, creating the Junior and Senior National Academies to develop the most talented players at England A, Sevens, Under 21 and Under 19 level. Ashton also coached some of these feeder teams, including England A.
In 2005, Ashton returned to Bath as head coach, but in January 2006 he was in agreement with Bath appointed as England attack coach from May 2006 to assist head coach Andy Robinson
Andy Robinson
Richard Andrew 'Andy' Robinson OBE is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He is currently the head coach of Scotland.Robinson played as an openside flanker for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions...
, alongside forwards' coach John Wells
John Wells (rugby)
John Wells is a former captain and coach of the Leicester Tigers rugby union team and presently forwards coach for England.Wells was born in Driffield, Yorkshire...
and defence coach Mike Ford.
On 20 December 2006 Ashton was appointed England head coach, following the departure of Andy Robinson. He chose Phil Vickery
Phil Vickery (rugby player)
Philip John Vickery MBE is a former English rugby union tighthead prop and member of the England squad. He was a member of England's World Cup winning squad in 2003, playing in all seven matches in the tournament, and is a former England captain. Vickery ended his club rugby career at Wasps,...
as his captain. Ashton won his first two games in charge of the England team, firstly the Calcutta Cup
Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is a rugby union trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Six Nations Championship match between England and Scotland. It is currently England's since the 2009 Six Nations Championship....
tie against Scotland and secondly beating Italy at Twickenham
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...
, but led the English team to a crushing defeat against the Irish National Team on his third outing. The 43–13 defeat by Ireland was England's worst ever defeat by Ireland in the 132 years of competition between the two sides.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
campaign started badly: the team narrowly beat the amateurs of the United States
United States national rugby union team
USA Rugby's men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The Eagles are currently ranked 17th by the IRB World Rankings. Their highest ranking was from November 2, 2006 – September 10, 2007 at the 14th position...
, and went on to lose 36–0 to South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
; however, having finished their group as runners up, they went on to record a shock victory over Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
, won a very tight semi-final against France 14–9, and lost a closely fought final to South Africa in the final 15–6. Although calls for his replacement came from England stalwart Lawrence Dallaglio
Lawrence Dallaglio
Lorenzo Bruno Nero "Lawrence" Dallaglio, OBE is a retired English rugby union player and former captain of the English national team. He played as a flanker or number eight for London Wasps and never played for another club, having arrived at Sudbury as a teenager...
(which were later withdrawn by Dallaglio saying "it was wrong of me to comment on him like I did"), Ashton was retained by the RFU for the 2008 season.
Ashton has previously said, "My main strength is as a coach. I see my job as improving players individually, to do the technical work with them, and also to establish the environment, the framework, in which the players operate." Ashton's philosophy is that the backs comprise three creative forces (the scrum-half, the fly-half and the inside-centre) and four penetrative finishers (the outside- centre, the two wings and the full-back). On 20 December 2007, Ashton was reconfirmed as manager of the English national team by the RFU with an indefinite length contract.
However, on 16 April 2008 Martin Johnson was appointed England team manager with effect from 1 July 2008, with Ashton leaving the post immediately. Ashton was offered the role of head coach of the RFU's National Academy, but declined this position.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours
New Year Honours 2008
The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008....
.
In September 2008 he was appointed director of coaching at the University of Bath and also successfully coached the Oxord University Blues team to Twickenham success in the 2008 Varsity match.
On 29 June 2010 it was announced Brian was to return to his old club Fylde to become a coaching consultant to the senior squad. He said he is prepared to contribute as much time as he can spare to assisting Head Coach Mark Nelson in the development of Fylde's senior squad. Fylde won National League 2 North 10/11 and Ashton signed for Fylde for the 2011/12 season as Technical Director.
Teams coached
| Team | Role | Date from: | Date to: | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building... |
Rugby coach | 1980 | 1988 | |
| England England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in... |
Assistant coach | 1985 | 1985 | Tour of New Zealand 1985 England rugby union tour of New Zealand The 1985 England rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of seven matches played by the England national rugby union team in New Zealand in May and June 1985. England played seven games, including two test matches against the New Zealand national rugby union team... |
| King's School, Bruton King's School, Bruton King's Bruton is an independent fully co-educational secondary day and boarding school based in Bruton, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1519 by Richard FitzJames, and received royal foundation status around 30 years later in the reign of Edward VI... |
Rugby coach | 1987 | 1994 | |
| Bath Rugby Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league... |
Assistant coach | 1989 | 1994 | |
| Head coach | 1994 | 1996 | ||
| Ireland Ireland national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union... |
Head coach | 1996 | 1998 | |
| England | Assistant coach | 1998 | 2002 | Managed England A England Saxons England Saxons is the current name of England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England A... and Churchill Cup Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams from a wide array of countries.... team |
| National Academy Manager | 2002 | 2005 | ||
| Bath Rugby | Head coach | 2005 | 2005 | |
| England | Attack coach | 2006 | 2006 | |
| Head coach | 2006 | 2008 | took team to final of 2007 Rugby World Cup 2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,... |
|