Is Ashton the worst non tackler ever ???

[ellis9]

Would he not be the best non tackler?

I agree though, his defence is and always has been awful

[amazing tiger]

don know why he kept drifting in as this gave them 2 tries. he needs to be dropped soon

[TigerCam]

There's not much to gain by scape goating individuals when the whole performance was as poor as that - players you really expect to make tackles were flailing aimlessly, the game was headless.

A lot has been made of New Zealand's class post-match - but England were woeful from the kick off. Having a team score from first phase straight from the line out really is the epitome of embarrassing.

Who is the defemce coach? Sack him!

Send him to Wigan!!

[APM16]

Using the evidence of my own eye's, Ben Cohen's defensive no-shows in his last few appearances at Welford Road will live long in the memory. May be in a few years Ashton will have declined to that level - Ashton at least tries. Which is more than can be said of Toby Flood's 'tackling' on more than one occasion this season (understandable given the after effects of concussion, and an imminent move to France).

[BengalTiger]

Aston was exposed by a shambolic backline, Manu who rushes up, Eastmond who is a small rank novice, Ashton, who never could cover for himself let alone anyone else, and Yarde who is another novice without a great tackling reputation, Burns who has shown flakiness in the past and backed up by Brown who seems to be having his worst period in an England shirt and should have been dropped after the second test.
These were all known going into the match, by NZ as well as England, so what did our coaches do to cover up the weaknesses, nothing that I could see.
We all dislike Ashton but it had all fell apart before it got to him, he should have done better but that is not what he is about or will ever be, Leopard and spots comes to mind.
The coaches obsession with Farrel is what has caused this shambles behind the scrum, shuffling players and trying to find a combination that covers Farrel's weakness.
I would also say the obsession with RL players is showing up a lack of understanding of defensive systems at the very top of the game.

[MurphysLaw]

[quote="APM16"]Using the evidence of my own eye's, Ben Cohen's defensive no-shows in his last few appearances at Welford Road will live long in the memory. May be in a few years Ashton will have declined to that level - Ashton at least tries. Which is more than can be said of Toby Flood's 'tackling' on more than one occasion this season (understandable given the after effects of concussion, and an imminent move to France).[/quote]

Sorry to take this o/t, but just to react to the Toby Flood comment - I thought that this was an area where he had improved this season, and can recall a number of times when he was getting stuck in. I would certainly class him as a better defender than either of Ashton and Cohen.

[DickyP]

Ashton is a poor defender normally - no question about that, and was plain bad on Saturday. However, after that game the answer to the thread title is a resounding NO! Eastmond wins that in spades!

[jgriffin]

Using the evidence of my own eye's, Ben Cohen's defensive no-shows in his last few appearances at Welford Road will live long in the memory. May be in a few years Ashton will have declined to that level - Ashton at least tries. Which is more than can be said of Toby Flood's 'tackling' on more than one occasion this season (understandable given the after effects of concussion, and an imminent move to France).

Sorry to take this o/t, but just to react to the Toby Flood comment - I thought that this was an area where he had improved this season, and can recall a number of times when he was getting stuck in. I would certainly class him as a better defender than either of Ashton and Cohen.

Don't recognise that Toby Flood - is the non-tackler a new urban myth that can't be checked out (like Wade, who is a reasonably good tackler)?

[drc_007]

Using the evidence of my own eye's, Ben Cohen's defensive no-shows in his last few appearances at Welford Road will live long in the memory. May be in a few years Ashton will have declined to that level - Ashton at least tries. Which is more than can be said of Toby Flood's 'tackling' on more than one occasion this season (understandable given the after effects of concussion, and an imminent move to France).

Sorry to take this o/t, but just to react to the Toby Flood comment - I thought that this was an area where he had improved this season, and can recall a number of times when he was getting stuck in. I would certainly class him as a better defender than either of Ashton and Cohen.

I'd agree certainly willing to get stuck in, made a couple of important turnovers as well.