English rugby fans target Luke Marshall after Chris Ashton’s 10-week ban

Ulsterman is the convenient fall guy.

Let's get this out here at the start - Luke Marshall was hauled to the ground by his face in a rash tackle by Chris Ashton. This afternoon, Ashton was hit with a 10-week ban for 'making contact with the eye area' of Marshall. Cynics would call it a gouge but, if anything, it was pure recklessness from Ashton. While attempting to prevent a choke tackle on his Saracens teammate, Ashton grabbed a scruff of Marshall and got to work. We're sure it was never his intention to rake Marshall's eyes but that is what he did. The ban means Ashton will now miss the entire Six Nations, including a February 27 clash with Ireland at Twickenham. There was a mixed reaction to the ban on Twitter: Panto villain https://twitter.com/DickieJev/status/689810830238597120 https://twitter.com/CormStarling/status/689814227469598720 https://twitter.com/Keane1Peter/status/689814162537484288 Outrage from old pros https://twitter.com/Jason15Robinson/status/689810562356748288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/davidflatman/status/689807928509992960 Sympathy from an Ulsterman https://twitter.com/JKKPharm/status/689811490103279616 Justice served https://twitter.com/mattjenner94/status/689812380184924160 https://twitter.com/ERuckerThompson/status/689812392683966465