Tries are hard to come by but Ashton has faith

The Northampton flyer, who scored a record-equalling six tries in England’s title-winning campaign last year, was starved of possession in the victories over Scotland and Italy.

The Murrayfield rain and Roman snow did not help but England have been unable to showcase the new attacking philosophy interim coach Stuart Lancaster outlined before the tournament.

Ashton will spend this week looking to the skies, hoping for a clear day at Twickenham and the chance to cause Wales the kind of damage he did in last season’s 26-19 victory.

“I’m saying a little prayer every night,” said Ashton, who scored two tries at the Millennium Stadium 12 months ago.

“We’re fine in training. Last week was unfortunate because the snow just changed everything. It wouldn’t allow the lads to force the last pass.

“I’m there and I’m running as I’ve always run but unfortunately the lads can’t get the last pass away.

“It’s killing me – but there’s nothing I can do. You have to stick with it. As long as we’re winning then that is the main thing.”

Ashton was warned about the possibility of being marooned out on the wing when he opted to leave rugby league for the 15-man code and that has heavily influenced the way he plays.

Lancaster and his predecessor Martin Johnson both described his desire to play a roving role, tracking play and sniffing out an attacking opportunity as a “unique” talent.

Ashton has scored 15 tries in 20 Tests but none in his last three internationals and England need to bring his devastating finishing ability into the game more.

“Before I came across (from league) people warned me that I’d never get the ball. In league it’s 20 carries every game. I just said ‘well I won’t stand there, I’ll go looking for the ball’,” said Ashton.

“In the end you play the game the way you want to play the game. I just found that by running around and going in search of the ball that was the way I was going to get the ball. Not by standing on the wing.

“There are still games where you’re just not getting the ball. When the pitch is full of snow it ain’t happening.

“I’ve come to terms with it now. You just have to figure out ways where you can help the team another way.

“It hasn’t affected my confidence. If it was 30-0, the sun was shining and everyone else was scoring tries then maybe.

“But the games have been tight and it’s just gone that way. I’ll keep running as normal, so hopefully the guys will get the last pass away.”

As Ashton said, England have been winning but there is a general acceptance within the squad that their performance must be better in time for Wales’ arrival.

Warren Gatland’s men, who are chasing the Triple Crown, have scored six tries in the championship compared to Charlie Hodgson’s two charge-down efforts for England.

“They are playing well and it’s our job to stop them,” Ashton said.

“Wales have a big back line and we have to handle them, move them around a bit more, and hopefully they’ll tire before we do.

“(Wing) George North is a big fella. I didn’t actually realise how big he is until we played them away last year and managed to beat them.

“When he came in after the warm-up I thought ‘blimey he’s bigger than I thought’. But that day we turned him, put pressure on them and ended up beating them. So it is not an impossible task.

“Playing at the Millennium Stadium was right up there in terms of hostility, we have to try to recreate that at Twickenham. As a team we have to have the mentality ‘we will not lose there’.

“We just need to keep playing the way we want to play and hopefully it won’t be snowing, hailing, hurricaning or anything else.”

Wales yesterday called up Ospreys forwards Alun Wyn Jones and Richard Hibbard to strengthen their ranks ahead of Saturday’s encounter.

Lock Jones, capped 59 times by his country, came through an outing for the Ospreys against Aironi on Friday night to prove his fitness after recovering from a toe injury.

The 26-year-old comes into Gatland’s squad as a replacement for Cardiff Blues second row Bradley Davies who is suspended for the rest of the championship following his tip-tackle on Ireland replacement Donnacha Ryan two weeks ago.

Hooker Hibbard, 28, comes into contention to earn his 16th cap, and has been brought in as cover for club-mate Huw Bennett and Scarlets’ Matthew Rees, who are both battling to recover from calf strains.

Leigh Halfpenny has underlined Wales’ principal objective for this season’s Six Nations is to win the Grand Slam.

Stage three of that masterplan will be completed at Twickenham if Wales defeat unbeaten title rivals England.

Rarely, if ever, in Six Nations history have Wales headed to Twickenham as favourites, but the World Cup semi-finalists are on a roll and hungry for further success.

“At the end of the day we want to be the best,” said the Wales full-back. “That means winning every single game and achieving the Grand Slam.

“We are preparing for this tournament as we did the World Cup, which was another tournament we set out to win. We want to be the best, and we set high goals to bring the best out of us.”