Christopher John Ashton was born on 29 March 1987 and is an English rugby union and former rugby league footballer, and one of the few players who have represented England in both rugby codes.
42 Facts About Chris Ashton
2.
In 2007 Chris Ashton signed for Northampton Saints in rugby union's Premiership, before moving to Saracens in 2012, Toulon in 2017, Sale in 2018 and Harlequins in 2020.
3.
Chris Ashton made his debut for England in March 2010 and played regularly until 2014, including in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he finished as the tournament's joint leading try-scorer.
4.
Chris Ashton came through Wigan's scholarship programme and played for Wigan's U18s in 2003.
5.
Chris Ashton was brought into the Wigan squad at the start of 2006 as replacement for the injured Kris Radlinski.
6.
Chris Ashton was one of the most consistent players for Wigan during their disappointing Super League XI season and was a contender for the Young Player of the Year award.
7.
Chris Ashton finished the 2006 season with 15 tries from 29 appearances making him the leading try scorer for Wigan.
8.
Chris Ashton was given the number 1 shirt, previously worn by Radlinski, at the start of 2007 despite the arrival of former Bradford Bulls full back Michael Withers.
9.
Chris Ashton made 52 appearances in total for the Cherry and Whites, scoring 30 tries.
10.
Chris Ashton was selected for the 2004 Academy Origin Series and the 2004 victorious England Academy U-18s tour to Australia.
11.
Chris Ashton made his England debut against France on 22 October 2006 in the Federation Shield tournament.
12.
Chris Ashton played in all four Federation Shield matches, which concluded with England winning the competition, and he scored three tries in his four games.
13.
On 19 March 2007 it was announced that Chris Ashton had signed to play rugby union for Northampton Saints, after Wigan granted him an early release from his contract.
14.
On 1 September 2007, Chris Ashton made his debut for Northampton at Franklin's Gardens as a late substitute for Will Harries against London Welsh in National Division One.
15.
In 2008, Chris Ashton broke the National Division One try scoring record, scoring 39 tries from only 25 appearances.
16.
Chris Ashton finished the season joint-4th in the try scoring table, with a total of 8 tries.
17.
Chris Ashton received a 10-week ban in 2016 for eye-gouging; an appeal against the ban was dismissed.
18.
In September 2016 Chris Ashton received a 13-week ban for biting Saints' Alex Waller in a premiership match on 17 September.
19.
Chris Ashton played a single season in the Top 14, scoring 24 tries in 23 appearances to break the tryscoring record previously held by Napolioni Nalaga.
20.
Chris Ashton left the club by mutual consent on 2 March 2020.
21.
On 4 March 2020, after his contract was terminated by Sale Sharks, Chris Ashton signed for Harlequins.
22.
On 13 December 2021, Worcester Warriors confirmed that Chris Ashton had left the club by mutual consent.
23.
Chris Ashton joined Leicester in February 2022 and made his debut against former club Northampton Saints on 12 February 2022, he made a try saving tackle while on during Freddie Burns' first half Head Injury Assessment, but was then sin binned in the 70th minute after replacing Guy Porter just 3 minutes earlier.
24.
Chris Ashton scored his first try for Leicester against London Irish on 12 March 2022, then on 27 March 2022 he scored two tries in Leicester's win against Exeter Chiefs.
25.
On 30 April 2022, Chris Ashton scored three tries against Bristol Bears to take the Premiership Rugby record outright with 95 tries.
26.
On 16 April 2023, Chris Ashton scored three tries against Exeter Chiefs to become the first Premiership Rugby player to score 100 tries - the third try taking his overall tally to 101.
27.
Chris Ashton made his England debut against France on 20 March 2010 in Paris.
28.
Chris Ashton played left wing, the opposite side to his usual position with Northampton.
29.
Chris Ashton gave the scoring pass to fellow Saints player fullback Ben Foden, who was making his first Six Nations start.
30.
Chris Ashton was taken on the summer tour to Australia, and played in both Test matches.
31.
Chris Ashton followed this with four tries against Italy the following week, equalling the all-time Six Nations record with six tries in a season.
32.
Chris Ashton's famous swallow dive celebration was used to celebrate two of these tries.
33.
Chris Ashton represented England at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and finished as the tournament's joint leading try-scorer with six.
34.
Chris Ashton went on the 2012 summer tour to South Africa in which he started all three Test matches.
35.
Chris Ashton started all five matches for England in the 2013 Six Nations Championship, scoring a try in the first match against Scotland.
36.
Chris Ashton later played in all three of England's matches in the 2013 autumn internationals, scoring a try in their win over Argentina.
37.
Chris Ashton lost his place in the England elite squad, not playing in any of their games in the 2014 Six Nations.
38.
Chris Ashton did however play in England's mid-year games against the All Blacks in New Zealand, all three of which England lost.
39.
Chris Ashton was the subject of much media focus during England's World Cup training programme.
40.
Chris Ashton was dropped from the squad some 6 weeks before the tournament.
41.
However, Chris Ashton was given a 10-week ban by the RFU for eye-gouging Luke Marshall during an ERCC match between Saracens and Ulster.
42.
Chris Ashton has been praised and rebuked in equal measure for it, with critics concerned about the risk of dropping the ball in the act of scoring.