Rugby Speakers

Brian is a former Rugby Union Player, and former Head Coach of the National Rugby Union Team.

After leaving school, Ashton started working for Trustee Savings Bank in their international banking division. His old games master from Leigh Grammar Keith Elleray 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 team-mates included Roger Uttley and Bill Beaumont - 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 post was at Hutton Grammar School, Preston brought about by the head masters requirement to introduce rugby.

Ashton never represented England — the closest he came was as an unused bench replacement on 15 March 1975 against Scotland. He played representational rugby for Lancashire, England North, England tourists and the Barbarians.

Ashton has coached rugby at club and international level, and has a reputation as one of the best backs coaches in world rugby.

He was persuaded to return to England in 1980 to take up the position of history teacher and rugby master by then assistant-bursar Dick Greenwood at Stonyhurst College where Kyran Bracken was a pupil at the time and to whom he taught history. His local teaching counterparts included Ray French. He met Jack Rowell in the summer of 1985, when he toured New Zealand as assistant coach with England A. Four years later Ashton was offered an accepted a job as backs coach job at Bath Rugby, resultantly moving to teach history and coach various sports at King's School, Bruton, Somerset from 1989, where his wife also worked as a teacher.

Ashton, built his credentials on an expansive approach. In his first spell as Head Coach, led Bath to their last domestic trophy in 1996. As Assistant Coach of Bath, under Jack Rowell, he helped establish Bath as the dominant team in English rugby for a decade to the mid-1990s.

He had a brief and unsuccessful spell as National Coach of Ireland from 1997–98. Ashton 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 private arguments or disagreements with the team manager, Pat Whelan, were frequently aired in public.

Ashton was Sir Clive Woodward's assistant from 1998 to 2002. Ashton 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 since its inception in 2002, 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.

In 2005, Ashton returned to Bath as head coach, but in January 2006 he was in agreement with Bath appointed as England attack coach from May 2006 to assist head coach Andy Robinson, alongside forwards' coach John Wells and defence coach Mike Ford.

On 20 December 2006 Ashton was appointed England head coach, following the departure of Andy Robinson. He chose Phil Vickery as his captain. Ashton won his first two games in charge of the England team, firstly the Calcutta Cup tie against Scotland and secondly beating Italy at Twickenham, 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.

The 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign started badly: the team narrowly beat the amateurs of the United States, and went on to lose 36–0 to South Africa; however, having finished their group as runners up, they went on to record a shock victory over Australia, won a very tight semi-final against France 14–9, and lost a closely-fought final to South Africa in the final 15–6. Although calls for his replacement came from England stalwart Lawrence Dallaglio (which were later withdrawn by Dallaglio saying "it was wrong of me to comment on him like I did"), Ashton was retained by the RFU for the 2008 season.

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). On 20 December 2007, Ashton was reconfirmed as manager of the English national team by the RFU with an indefinite length contract.

However, 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.

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours.

In September 2008 he was appointed director of coaching at the University of Bath and also successfully coached the Oxord University Blues team to Twickenham success in the 2008 Varsity match.