Former England winger Chris Ashton has hailed the Northampton-Leicester rivalry as the biggest in Premiership Rugby and said it ranks alongside the intensity of a Wigan-St Helens derby.
Ashton rose to prominence in the Cherry and White of his hometown club Wigan Warriors before crossing codes to join Northampton in 2007.
He went on to enjoy an outstanding career in union, playing Saints, Saracens, Toulon, Sale Sharks, Harlequins, Worcester Warriors and Leicester Tigers and earning 44 England caps.
Northampton v Leicester
As Northampton prepare to host Leicester at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night, the 37-year-old told Planet Rugby: “Northampton-Leicester derbies are amazing to be a part of because of the history between the clubs.
“I joined Northampton from Wigan at such a young age and felt part of it straight away.
“We had a young team at Northampton who fully bought into it and so did Leicester – they had a young group as well.
“Intensity-wise, this fixture is up there with a Wigan-Saints derby in rugby league.
“Nowadays, players are taught to take the emotion out of the game but in my era we played on emotion a lot of the time, which adds to the sense of occasion in these fixtures.
“Although we have probably now lost that face-to-face confrontation, there is still an edge to these games because both sets of players will want to get one over on their biggest rivals.
“In my mind, there is no bigger derby than Northampton-Leicester.
“I’m sure there will be a few people who will contest that – and say Bath-Gloucester, for example, and a few other derbies. But for me it’s the biggest.”
🃏 Danny Care: ‘I’ve kept that letter from Stuart Lancaster which said I wasn’t good enough’
Premiership title favourites
Ashton, who retired at the end of the 2022-23 season and is now a pundit for TNT Sport, believes leaders Bath will take some stopping this season.
He also reckons their neighbours Bristol Bears are also genuine title contenders, saying: “Bath have got to be favourites right now with the season they’ve had and how strong they have looked.
“Bristol had a slight dip when AJ MacGinty got injured but they are right back with it.
“Hopefully he’s not too far away after injury and they are going to be dangerous during this run-in until the end of the season.
“Bristol won at Bath earlier in the season and are sat just below them in the table in second.
“The Bears just offer something different to everyone else because they’re so unpredictable in how they play.
“That has caught so many teams off guard this season and, after a little dip, they seem to have sorted that out and got themselves back on track again.
“That’s a good sign, so I think Bristol are the only ones who could be up with Bath right now.
“But you can never rule out Saracens in the Premiership because they’re always there or thereabouts.
“You wouldn’t want to play them in a semi-final where Northampton have it all to do to even make the play-offs.
“It’s looking like a long shot for them, but a win over Leicester will revive their hopes of a top-four finish.”
🦈 Sharks battle it out for Springboks speedster’s signature as Sale target second Lions signing
“Hold most dear”
Ashton had five-year spells at Northampton and Saracens and enjoyed huge success at both clubs.
He is also the highest try-scorer in Premiership history with 101 and reflected: “Wigan Warriors is my team and always will be.
“It’s my hometown club but Saracens is where I had most success and it’s probably my time there that I hold most dear.
“That’s because of the trophies I won there because of the bonds and memories that we created.
“Yes, being at Saracens was probably the best part of my playing days.”
Catch every minute of Gallagher Premiership Rugby action exclusively live on TNT Sports and discovery+ when the season returns this Friday evening for Derby Weekend | #GallagherPrem # PremRugby | @tntsportsrugby @discoveryplusuk
READ MORE: 👉 Ben Kay’s forthright view on Leicester Tigers’ Premiership title ambitions and who he views as favourites
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/chris-ashton-picks-premiership-title-favourites-but-issues-a-warning-about-unpredictable-contenders
