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Martin Johnson has warned his team about celebrating tries before they are scored following Chris Ashton's flamboyant dive against Wales.
Ashton marked the first of his two tries in Cardiff with an extravagant leap for the line, ball tucked precariously under one arm as he touched down.
However Ashton and his England team-mates have been told to cut out the theatrics, according to the Daily Mail.
To hammer home the point, attack coach Brian Smith showed Johnson's squad a video nasty of former London Irish player Juan Leguizamon bungling a try while trying a similar touch down.
"Chris Ashton got it in the ear. If he celebrates after scoring then fair enough but in the process of scoring, not so good!," said prop Dan Cole.
"Brian Smith (England's attack coach) showed us a video of Juan Leguizamon at London Irish famously jumping over the line and dropping the ball before he had scored, so it was just a warning about doing that.
"It's a case of slide in and get the ball down over the line, then you can maybe not go mad, but show your emotion."
Comments
kije says...
I agree with all the comments here. It's a ridiculous aspect of the game and encourages young players to behave like idiots as well. If Ashton had dropped the ball it could welll have made a difference and England could have lost all for the sake of Ashton prancing around showing off trying to say 'aren't I the best thing there is', grow up players and stop acting like prima donnas, it's not big and its not clever.
Posted 12:22 10th February 2011
jamesliveinhope says...
I was at the Leguizamon game with the kids from my club, and every other club that had been at a major Tag festival earlier in the day. To a man, every coach in the stand looked at their charges and said "that's what you get for showboating".
The difference on the day was that his spill made no difference to the result - would Ashtons?
Matt Banahan has a habit of dotting down with the ball in the crook of his wrist and had lost a few in contact over the line himself so Ashton may benefit from his input too.
Posted 10:26 10th February 2011
rugbyphile says...
Agree wholly--figjam theatrics show immaturity and an inferiority complex-- almost worst thing I have seen in the last couple of years was Scott Staniforth--who has otherwise always seemed a true solid citizen, mouthing off and laughing at an opponent who was unfortunate enough to have dropped the ball before grounding it for a try in a Super 14 game. If you don't show respect for your opponents you don't deserve any respect yourself--if you want to be a show-off try out for a banality TV show or the Miss Brighton B grade competition--you don't belong in rugby union.
Posted 09:24 10th February 2011
benski says...
Quite right all! If I wasn't an England fan I would have loved to have seen Ashton drop the pill before touchdown, that would have made him a bit more aware. I am very happy that MJ has bought it to the players attention. Funnily enough I was reminded of Leguizamon's failed try at the time. They should be showing it on constant loop in the changing rooms.
Posted 09:07 10th February 2011
Drunkards says...
Yeah I agree with you Reidman. I used to enjoy watched the NFL but I do struggle these days with all the showboating even when they just assist in a tackle or knockdown. but then again the US does have a way of making something out of nothing.
I hope the lads playing rugby can continue to show respect to their opponents as is the proper nature of the great game of rugby union. I dread the day that the game has the refs getting abused like in football (soccer) and theatrical like the NFL.
Posted 07:37 10th February 2011
Reidman says...
Not to mention the fact he looked like a dick head for doing it. This bullshit is slowly creeping into the game. These NFL type dickheadsmanship rituals need to be stomped out of the game immediately. It's pitiful.
How stupid do the NFL players look after they make 1 tackle. These idiots are full of themselves and they need to be humbled and brought back to reality.
This is where the rib needs to step in and tell the unions to pull their players heads in. The game is bigger than these guys egos and they need to be reminded of it. If they forget, a fine will jog their memory real quick I would assume.
As you might guess, I'm not a fan of showboating. I'm all about watching 2 skillful teams battle it out for supremacy, not some idiot prance around. Save that for Your bedroom Ashton, your boyfriend might get jealous if you do it elsewhere.
Posted 03:57 10th February 2011
ShamanSheep says...
Why is this news?
Posted 23:50 09th February 2011