Winger Chris Ashton’s England career was hanging by a thread after he was handed a 13-week ban yesterday for biting an opponent.
 The 29-year-old Saracens back, who has played 39 tests, was found guilty of biting Northampton prop Alex Waller in one of two incidents within the space of a minute during a Premiership match last Saturday. The second charge was dismissed.
 “Having considered detailed evidence the panel concluded that during the course of a ruck Chris Ashton bit the arm of Alex Waller at a time that Mr Waller was attempting to clear him out,” disciplinary panel chairman Philip Evans said in a statement. “The panel concluded it was a low-end entry point aggravated by his previous record.”
 He is free to play again from December 19, the panel added.
 Ashton’s hopes of earning a recall to the England squad for this year’s Six Nations ended when he was handed a 10-week suspension for making contact with the eye of Ulster centre Luke Marshall during a Champions Cup match in January.
 The former rugby league player, who has scored 19 tries for England, has not represented his country since 2014 and missed out on Eddie Jones’s 45-man elite player squad that was named last month.
 The punishment rules Ashton out of four upcoming internationals. Six Nations champions England will play South Africa, Fiji, Argentina and Australia in their upcoming Tests in November and early December.

Tongan international Tuitavake joins Saints
Tongan international back Nafi Tuitavake became the second Pacific Island player to sign for English Premiership outfit Northampton Saints in two days when he joined the side yesterday. The 27-year-old New Zealand-born utility back — a member of the 2009 Junior World Championships-winning All Blacks side which included the likes of Aaron Cruden and Zac Guildford — joins from French outfit Narbonne. Fijian international lock Api Ratuniyarawa signed for Saints on Tuesday from another French side, Agen.
 Tuitavake, who will join up with another member of the 2009 championship winning side but now a Samoan international Ken Pisi, brings plenty of top level experience to the side having been a regular for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and also represented New Zealand in the the World Rugby Sevens Series.
 “We have been really impressed with what we have seen of Nafi,” said Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder. “He has performed on lots of big stages from Super Rugby and New Zealand Sevens to international rugby and we think his ability and experience from these will further enhance our squad. He is an exciting talent who has all the attributes to be a success here.”
 Tuitavake, whose older brother, former All Black international back Anthony, is at Racing 92, said he’d enjoyed his year at Narbonne but Northampton offered him a chance to play at the highest level in Europe.
 “I have really enjoyed my time at Narbonne, but the opportunity to join Northampton was one I could not resist,” said Tuitavake. “They are a world-renowned club with some amazing players and I can’t wait to get started. I know Ace Tuala very well and Ken Pisi from our time at North Harbour and they have nothing but good things to say about Saints. I am very grateful to Narbonne president Bernard Archilla for allowing me to take this opportunity.”

‘Stop fantasising about Dominguez’s sacking’
Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal insisted yesterday that under-fire coach Diego Dominguez was not in his crosshairs after a poor start to the Top 14 season. The three-time former European champions, beaten in last year’s domestic final by Parisian arch-rivals Racing 92, currently stand eighth on 11 points, with just two wins from their five outings so far.
 Last weekend, Toulon were hammered by Racing 41-30, two late tries giving a gloss to the final score of a match in which they were comprehensively outplayed for large periods.
 “You need to stop fantasising about the sacking of Diego Dominguez,” Boudjellal said of the ex-Italy fly-half, with his side due to play in-form league leaders Clermont on Sunday. “Diego Dominguez is not a target today,” he said, adding: “If we lose 95-0, that reopens the debate, but that’s the case for every coach.”
 Boudjellal, who made his fortune from the comic book publishing business, continued: “Diego’s not under pressure. Toulon are not playing well because we don’t have the players” due to a raft of injuries.
 Toulon have Australian wing Drew Mitchell and South African Bryan Habana away on international duty, while the likes of captain Duane Vermeulen, playmaker Matt Giteau, flanker Juanne Smith, wingers Vincent Clerc and James O’Connor, and prop Jean-Charles Orioli are all out injured.
 “I carried out an audit on my club, spoke with lots of people. I try to fully understand the problems. We must first get our players back,” said Boudjellal. “But it really annoys me to see how our backs are playing,” he added, in an unveiled criticism of Australian backs coach Steve Meehan.
 Turning to Clermont in the sixth round of Top 14 matches, the outspoken president said: “I’m under no illusion. Clermont are currently a fighter plane”.

South Africa recall ‘rusty but ready’ Lambie
Fit-again fly-half Patrick Lambie was recalled by South Africa coach Allister Coetzee yesterday for rugby Championship Tests against Australia and New Zealand next month. The 25-year-old playmaker was badly concussed during a June Test loss to Ireland in Cape Town and returned to action only last Saturday for Sharks in the Currie Cup.
 “Rusty but ready,” was the verdict of Sharks coach and former Springboks scrum-half Robert du Preez after Lambie kicked two conversions in less than 20 minutes on the pitch.
However, South Africa coach Allister Coetzee cautioned against assuming that Lambie would replace off-form Elton Jantjies against Australia on October 1 at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria. “We want to ascertain his readiness and confidence for international rugby or whether he rather needs to play another match in the Currie Cup for the Sharks,” he said. “Patrick has been included in our squad so that our medical and conditioning team can get first-hand feedback.”
 Fullback Willie le Roux, axed after a poor performances in a fortunate 2-1 series win over Ireland, is also back in a 31-man squad comprising 16 forwards and 15 backs. Tighthead prop Julian Redelinghuys and lock Lood de Jager have recovered from injuries and were included. Utility prop Lourens Adriaanse is the only Springbok dropped from the previous squad as South Africa seek to snap a run of three consecutive rugby Championship losses. After a last-gasp home win over Argentina, they loss away to the South Americans, Australia and world champions New Zealand.