Ashton: I don’t feel pressure over job

BRIAN ASHTON has insisted he is not worried for his job, despite reports that that the vultures are circling over Twickenham after another disappointing RBS 6 Nations campaign.

Defeats to Wales and Scotland mean the very best England can do is finish second in the championship, but, realistically, they tackle Ireland in a battle for third place.

England’s performance at Murrayfield last weekend was appalling and Ashton’s decision to only drop Jonny Wilkinson prompted a raft of criticism, not least from the England Saxons coach Steve Bates.

England’s director of elite rugby Rob Andrew has been quoted as saying that Ashton’s job is safe, even if the campaign ends with a fifth straight defeat to Ireland.

But Ashton does not see Andrew’s comments as a vote of confidence —– because, despite the results, he has never stopped doubting his own ability.

“I don’t feel any pressure. I think people around me do — by that I mean family and friends — but I don’t and I won’t do either,” Ashton said.

“I am perfectly happy with how I operate as a coach. I know this business is results-driven, but there is a lot more to it than that.

“Some areas of our game have made a significant amount of progress and we have a group of players who are prepared to work really hard to move our game forward.

“We have won seven of our last 11 games so it could have been worse. I am disappointed it is only two from four in the Six Nations. Hopefully it will be three out of five —– the key thing is to finish the Six Nations on a high.”

Ashton was clearly not impressed with Bates’ decision to wade into the Wilkinson argument in the week he took charge of running Newcastle.

He said: “People have opinions. I don’t operate like that.”

Nick Easter stood up in defence of Ashton and the coaching team, and claimed the England players alone should shoulder the blame for the poor recent performances.

“It has been a disappointing campaign and we massively let ourselves down last week and we want to put that right,” Easter said.

“The coaches have given us the framework but there has been no consistency of performance and that is down to us as players.

“We were flat last week, we were poor, we didn’t execute properly, there were too many errors and there was too much indiscipline. That is not down to the coaches. It is purely to do with the players.”

Ashton has also demanded England not only win against Ireland, but win well to prove that progress is being made on the field and end the championship on a high note.

Ashton said: “I am delighted last week was not the final week of the championship. Now we have the opportunity to say: “We are not going out of the championship like that.”

The decision to drop Wilkinson has given Danny Cipriani his first start in an England shirt at fly-half.

Ashton has known Cipriani since his days at the England academy and is backing his ability to control a game at the highest level despite being only 20.