Brian Ashton was appointed England's rugby union head coach yesterday, taking over from Andy Robinson.
The 60-year-old Ashton will take over his coaching duties with immediate effect, the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) said in a statement.
His first game in charge will be the Six Nations opener against Scotland at Twickenham on Feb. 3.
"It's a massive privilege and honor to be asked to do the job," Ashton said. "I recognize the challenges ahead of us and along with the other coaches my focus now is to prepare the England team to play Scotland."
Ashton was appointed England's attack coach in May and he will continue to work with forwards coach John Wells and defense coach Mike Ford the RFU statement said.
He would then have nine further games before England launch their World Cup defense against the US in Lens on Sept. 8.
Robinson was sacked last month after presiding over 13 defeats in the 22 internationals since he took over from his former boss, the World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward.
Elite Rugby Director Rob Andrew, who recommended Ashton, said he was the most experienced coach in England.
"He has enormous respect with the players and he has massive international and club experience," Andrew said.
ANGELS BEATEN: The Astros broke through with four runs in the 12th inning in a 9-5 win that left them just three victories from clinching the AL West division title Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker on Wednesday said that a huge source of pride about his American League West-leading team is the way they play defense after right fielder Chas McCormick made two huge plays in their 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in 12 innings. McCormick made a one-hop throw to prevent Shohei Ohtani from scoring the potential game-winning run in the 10th inning. Two innings later, the Astros broke through with four runs, including a two-run double by Jose Altuve, to reduce their magic number to three to clinch their fourth division title in five seasons. “He has been working
The girls on Afghanistan’s national soccer team were anxious. For weeks, they had been moving around the country, waiting for word that they could leave. One wants to be a doctor, another a movie producer, others engineers. All dream of growing up to be professional soccer players. The message finally came early on Sunday: A charter flight would carry the girls and their families from Afghanistan — to where they did not know. The buses that would take them to the airport were already on their way. “They left their homes and left everything behind,” said Farkhunda Muhtaj, the captain of the Afghanistan
When she saw 13-year-old Brazilian Rayssa Leal win silver in the first-ever street skateboarding competition at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Giovanna Alves Farias only had one wish: to start flying around a skate park herself. “I nearly cried. Seeing a 13-year-old girl like me win a medal was so unexpected,” Farias told reporters. “Before the Games, I was already interested in skateboarding, but after seeing that, I told my dad: ‘Let’s go.’” Leal’s success is fueling a boom in skateboarding among women and girls in Brazil, who see themselves soaring to new heights, maybe even at the Olympics. Right after the Olympics
TWO TRIES: A Codie Taylor break led to a Will Jordan try, to which South Africa replied through Sbu Nkosi following a George Bridge mistake under a high ball A late Jordie Barrett penalty yesterday saw New Zealand clinch the Rugby Championship with an “ugly” 19-17 victory over South Africa in the 100th Test between the teams. In a tough game with a high error count in Townsville, the All Blacks led 13-11 at halftime and both sides traded penalties through the second period until Barrett landed the killer blow from 43m with two minutes remaining. It gave the unbeaten All Blacks an unassailable lead in the Rugby Championship with one round remaining. “If ever you’re going to take an ugly win, we’ll take that,” All Blacks coach Ian Foster said. “Clearly
RSS