RFU hand Chris Ashton harsh ban for red card incident in 'friendly'

It's a disastrous return to the English scene for the controversial Ashton who has joined Sale from Toulon with an eye to impressing national coach Eddie Jones a year out from the Rugby World Cup.

Ashton had been sent off for the dangerous tackle playing for Sale Sharks in a warmup game against Castres

He will now miss the first six weeks of the English Premiership.