No one in the Scotland camp needs to be told that England’s main attacking threat comes from their Northampton pair of Chris Ashton, the leading try-scorer in this season’s RBS Six Nations Championship, and Ben Foden, the full back. In theory, no one should know how to stop them better than Joe Ansbro, their club colleague, who will be leading the Scotland attack.
“I wouldn’t want to slag him off, he has done really well and I am really happy for him,” Ansbro said when asked about Ashton. “We’ll be looking to test a lot of the aspects of his game but will also be wary of him. If England get the ball going forward, he will be a really dangerous runner, particularly if they start getting the offloads going. That is something we will have to stop or he will be doing that silly dive again.”
The trademark Ashton swallow dive is never going to be a part of Ansbro’s repertoire — “Not a chance,” he said — but he feels his Scotland team-mates have the capacity to start winning even if they lack the flamboyance of their opponents. “England won’t give us many chances to score, and we have to make sure we take them when they come, take the right options and execute well,” he said.
It has been an up and down season for Ansbro, who came into the national side in November, had a strong game in the opening Six Nations match in France, found life much tougher against Wales, and then got himself knocked out playing for Northampton and missed the match against Ireland.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you how it happened,” he said when asked about his injury. “I took the ball into contact, somehow took a blow to the chin and went out cold. I’ve had a few concussions in my time so I am used to the feeling, you get a bit disorientated. I don’t remember the impact and although I do remember bits of the game, I am not quite sure how they fitted together — though the video has helped a bit.”
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Ansbro has the tricky job of not just returning to a side that is bound to be short on confidence after three defeats but also take the role of senior partner alongside Sean Lamont, who is playing only his second game at inside centre. It is not a prospect that worries him.
“Sean had a great game against Ireland playing 12 and I’m not sure if he had ever played there before. He gave everybody a lot of confidence,” he said.