ENGLAND’S CHRIS ASHTON says his old sparring partner Manu Tuilagi will be a huge asset for England going into this Autumn’s World Cup, and their punch-up earlier in the year has been consigned to history.
Ashton came out of the Welford Road fracas – he was on the receiving end of a number of punches from Tuilagi during a clash between Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints – with great credit as he never went to ground and even shook his foe’s hand after the game.
Tuilagi, on the other hand, was banned from the Aviva Premiership final and Churchill Cup. However, the Anglo-Samoan star has since made up with Ashton – they even went on a cinema date together – and is set to be one of Martin Johnson’s major attacking threats in New Zealand.
“I am looking forward to playing alongside him,” Ashton, speaking in advance of England’s warm-up clash with Ireland on Saturday, told reporters.
“He’s quite a player isn’t he? The impact he has on games for Leicester – he’s the sort of player who can change a game.
“To be outside a guy like that, I’m pretty excited about it.
“He can create the gaps hopefully and I can just be outside. He can definitely change a game and he’s got that in him to do that on the weekend.”
When asked about the events of last May, Ashton revealed that the players have gone to exceptional lengths to clear the air.
“We kissed and made up a while ago to be honest. It’s all forgotten. We’re part of a team now and it’s never brought up.”
England’s back row resources have been stretched, meanwhile, after Tom Wood was forced to pull out of tomorrow’ final warm-up international.
Here’s their revised team, we’ll liveblog the action (ko 2.30pm): Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), M Tuilagi (Leicester), M Tindall (Gloucester, capt), M Cueto (Sale); J Wilkinson (Toulon), R Wigglesworth (Saracens); A Sheridan (Sale), S Thompson (Wasps) D Cole (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), C Lawes (Northampton), T Croft (Leicester), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams), N Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), M Stevens (Saracens), S Shaw (Unattached), T Palmer (Stade Francais), J Simpson (Wasps), T Flood (Leicester), D Armitage (London Irish).
