William Brian Ashton
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(born 3 September 1946) is an English
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
and former player. He has been head coach of the
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
national teams.
Youth
Ashton was born 3 September 1946 in
Leigh
Leigh may refer to:
Places In England
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan
** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency)
* Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Dorset
* Leigh, Gloucestershire
* Leigh, Kent
* Leigh, Staf ...
, Lancashire to a textile weaver mother and
coal miner
Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...
father Albert, who played professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
on the weekends for
Leigh RLFC in 1940.
[Ashton's long road to Paris, via Leigh and Tyldesley](_blank)
The Guardian – 19 October 2007 He earned a place at
Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is a selective grammar school (day and boarding) for boys aged 11–18 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to girls in 2019. LRGS i ...
– one of the few local schools to teach and play
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
over rugby league.
Playing history
After leaving school, Ashton started working for
Trustee Savings Bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
in their international banking division then Midland Bank at Farnworth, Bolton. Keith Elleray, his old games master from Leigh Grammar, 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 teammates included
Roger Uttley
Roger Miles Uttley (born 11 September 1949) OBE is a former English rugby union player.
Career
Uttley played 23 games for England both in the second row and the back row, five times as captain, and four tests in the Lions back row on the unde ...
and
Bill Beaumont
Sir William Blackledge Beaumont, (born 9 March 1952 in Chorley, Lancashire, England) is a former rugby union player, and was captain of the England rugby union team, earning 34 caps. His greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand ...
– 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 posts were at Ashton High School, brought about by the head master's requirement to introduce rugby, and
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. It provides education for boys from the age of 11 to 16, an ...
,
Preston.
Ashton was in the England squad which toured Australia in 1975, playing in one game, but was never capped – the closest he came was as an unused replacement on 15 March 1975 against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. He also played representative rugby for Lancashire, England North and the
Barbarians
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...
.
His friend
Dick Greenwood
John Richard Heaton Greenwood, (born 11 September 1940) is an English former rugby union player and coach. A flanker, he played for Waterloo, Cambridge University, Lancashire and . He later coached Preston Grasshoppers and England.
Biograph ...
– England international and later father of
Will Greenwood
William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. H ...
– persuaded Ashton to extend his career by playing in France for
AS Montferrand, and then in Italy with Roma and Milan. As a result, he speaks Italian.
Coaching career
Ashton started at Leigh college 1980–81, and turned the side into a formidable team that rucked the ball at speed due to a lack of size in the pack. He was persuaded in 1981 to take up the position of history teacher and rugby master by then assistant-
bursar
A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (f ...
Dick Greenwood at
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic Church, Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. Th ...
where
Kyran Bracken
Kyran Paul Patrick Bracken MBE (born 22 November 1971) is a world-cup winning former rugby union footballer who played at scrum-half for Saracens, Bristol and Waterloo.
He won a total of 51 England caps and captained the team on three occasi ...
was a pupil at the time and to whom he taught history. His local teaching counterparts included
Ray French
Raymond James French, MBE (born 23 December 1939) is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. French played at international level in both codes. He won four caps for England in rugby union ...
.
Ashton met
Jack Rowell
Jack Rowell OBE (born 1937) is an English rugby union coach and executive. He is the former coach of Bath and England.
Rugby career Coaching
Between 1978 and 1994 Rowell coached Bath during their ''golden era'', winning eight John Player/Pilki ...
in the summer of 1985, when he toured
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
as assistant coach with
England A. Four years later Ashton was offered an accepted a job as backs coach job at
Bath, moving to teach history and coach various sports at
King's School, Bruton
King's Bruton is an independent fully co-educational secondary day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in Bruton, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1519 by Richard FitzJames, and received royal foundation status ...
, Somerset from 1989, where his wife also worked as a teacher.
Working under
Jack Rowell
Jack Rowell OBE (born 1937) is an English rugby union coach and executive. He is the former coach of Bath and England.
Rugby career Coaching
Between 1978 and 1994 Rowell coached Bath during their ''golden era'', winning eight John Player/Pilki ...
, he helped establish Bath as the dominant team in English rugby for a decade to the mid-1990s. He took over as head coach from Rowell in 1994, and led Bath to their last domestic trophy in 1996.
Ashton then had a brief and unsuccessful spell as National Coach of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
from 1997 to 1998. He 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 arguments or disagreements with the team manager, Pat Whelan, were frequently aired in public.
Ashton was
Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) 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 also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lion ...
's assistant with England from 1998 to 2002, and 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, 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.
Ashton returned to Bath as head coach at the start of 2006, but was appointed as England attack coach from May 2006 to assist head coach
Andy Robinson
Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Decemb ...
, alongside forwards' coach
John Wells and defence coach Mike Ford.
In December 2006 Robinson was dismissed, and Ashton was appointed England head coach. He chose
Phil Vickery as his captain. Ashton won his first two games in charge of the England team, firstly the
Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...
tie against Scotland and secondly beating Italy at
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
, 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.
England's
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 2 ...
campaign started badly: the team only narrowly beat the amateurs of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and went on to lose 36–0 to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. However, having finished their group as runners up, they recorded a shock victory over
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, won a very tight semi-final against France 14–9, and lost a closely fought final to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
15–6. Despite criticism of his management, Ashton was reconfirmed as manager of England with an indefinite length contract, on 20 December 2007.
England finished second in the 2008 Six Nations, losing games to Wales and Scotland. 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.
[Rugby Football Union – England Rugby – RFU Management Board statement]
/ref>
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours
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.
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...
.
In September 2008 he was appointed director of coaching at the University of Bath and also successfully coached Oxford University to victory in the 2008 Varsity match.
In June 2010 Ashton returned 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.[ Fylde Rugby Club News]
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).
Teams coached
International matches as head coach
Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking England was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches
References
External links
Brian Ashton's Home Page
England profile
scrum.com statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Brian
1946 births
Living people
20th-century English educators
21st-century English educators
Barbarian F.C. players
Bath Rugby head coaches
England national rugby union team coaches
English expatriate rugby union players
English expatriate sportspeople in France
English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland
English expatriate sportspeople in Italy
English rugby union coaches
English rugby union players
Expatriate rugby union players in France
Expatriate rugby union players in Italy
Fylde Rugby Club players
Ireland national rugby union team coaches
Lancashire County RFU players
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Orrell R.U.F.C. players
Rugby Roma Olimpic players
Rugby union players from Leigh, Greater Manchester
Schoolteachers from Greater Manchester