Peter Bills talks to the harshly-treated ex-England coach Brian Ashton in The Independent, and sees just how difficult his exit from the England set-up became.
"Ashton emerged with his reputation intact, his head held high. Even today, partly because he still has a role as a consultant with the RFU, he refuses to castigate those who became his executioners. Not all those painted as villains were guilty, he hastens to add.
"But whatever the motives of a few, Ashton survived the painful experience for the same reason he has emerged from many tough times in his life. He attributes that ability to move on, to shrug and be philosophical, to his up-bringing and the values instilled in him by his parents all those years ago in Lancashire.
'"They were tough times, we never had much at all," he says. "But the values my parents taught me are something I have kept all my life. I am not a person motivated by greed or money, by jealousy or bitterness. For me, life is too short for all those things."
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