England wing Ashton loses appeal, 10-week ban stands

Chris Ashton admitted Thursday to being "incredibly disappointed" after failing to get his lengthy ban for eye gouging overturned by an independent appeal committee. The explosive England winger will now miss the Six Nations Championship with head coach Eddie Jones set to call up a replacement to his squad. Ashton was brought back into the international fold by Jones when the latter succeeded Stuart Lancaster and would have had a good chance of being in the matchday squad of 23 for the opening clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. But he received a 10-week ban for gouging Luke Marshall during Saracens' European Rugby Champions Cup match with Ulster on January 16, and faces another long wait to see if he can have a fresh chance with England. Ashton, who last played for his country 18 months ago, admitted: "I'm incredibly disappointed with today's decision, but I now plan to look ahead to the rest of the season and work as hard as I can during my ban. "I'd like to thank Saracens and my legal team for all their hard work and support throughout this. "I vehemently maintain that I have never made an attempt to intentionally make contact with the eye area of any other player. "To miss out on the chance to represent my country and Saracens during this period is extremely disappointing, but the judgement stands and it is one that I will respect and accept." A statement from European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) read: "An independent appeal committee has announced its decision not to allow an appeal by the Saracens player, Chris Ashton, against the 10-week suspension imposed on him." Ashton will be free to play again on March 28, and Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: "The club has been fully supportive of Chris throughout this process and wanted to ensure that everything possible was done to support his case. "Saracens and Chris are obviously disappointed by the ramifications of today's news, but we now have to accept this decision." Ashton, 28, was adjudged to have made contact with the eye area of Marshall in the game last month. The match's judicial officer viewed Ashton's tackle as a red-card offence that exposed Marshall to the risk of serious injury, but Saracens contended that 10 weeks was too severe a punishment for the incident.