Mark Cueto has paid tribute to former international teammate and soon-to-retire winger Chris Ashton, and his unique ability to finish off opportunities.
Cueto and Ashton were international teammates between 2010 and 2011, playing on opposite wings and scoring a combined ten tries at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Ashton had his red card from last week’s defeat against Harlequins rescinded, but has not been selected for Sunday’s semi-final against Sale Sharks, suggesting he has played his last game of professional rugby after he announced 2022/23 would be his last season in the sport.
And though he accepted his friend Ashton had been a somewhat divisive character, he was full of praise for the winger’s well-known finishing abilities that have seen him to 101 Premiership and 20 England tries.
“I love Ashy to bits,” he said, speaking on The Rugby Paper Podcast. “I think people sometimes have the wrong opinion of him, he’s a bit of a love or hate him kind of guy, and he never really seemed to grow up did he?
“But at the end of the day the numbers say everything. He’s the best finisher around, he’s just been incredible. People still can’t do what he’s done now, that unbelievable ability to just track the ball, pop-up in the middle of the field and get onto the last pass to run under the sticks and score a try.
“I don’t think anybody’s been able to emulate it, it was almost like a sixth sense he was born with, an incredible skill.
“Maybe the defensive part of his game wasn’t the strongest but it certainly wasn’t weak. He could do a job, and all his other basics were brilliant: his catching high balls, his positional play, his kicking, he had it all, and there was nobody near him in terms of being able to finish a try. Just crazy, crazy good.”
Cueto also gave Ashton praise for the unseen analysis work that he did to get himself in those positions, nurtured during his six-year stay at Saracens, and the fitness that helped him to have an edge against other wingers competing for a place in the England team during his international career.
Cueto added: “He probably doesn’t get enough credit for how much work he did in terms of studying and analysis. He works massively hard, I never saw him at club level with Saracens but just knowing a lot of the lads over the years who spent a lot of time with Sarries I think that’s something they instilled in their players.
“You’ve got to understand what you’re doing, and what you’re up against. The more knowledge and understanding of anything the better position you’re going to put yourself in, and I think that’s something he probably isn’t credited with.
“His natural ability is unbelievable. He’s rapid, but he’s equally very fit. If you take Ugo Monye, someone who’s known for being really quick and a real athlete, you knew in the second-half that he’d drop off and lose that yard he had in the first half, but Ashy didn’t.”
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