Ashy tapping into Wallabies love affair

It was a day to remember for a number of reasons, not least because it was a winning start, and one in which he scored

“It couldn’t get any better as far as debuts go. Obviously George Turner got injured fairly early and I ended up playing 70 minutes on debut, so I didn’t really have the opportunity to get nervous.

“It’s almost that dream, everything you visualise in bed the night before, scoring a try and playing well; it doesn’t get much better, with my family there as well. It was unbelievable.

“My whole family were there, seeing them when you get off the bus and giving them a wave – all that stuff where you’ve been on the opposite side as a fan, it was crazy. It’s hard to articulate but it was like an out-of-body experience. Even thinking about it now, and I’m familiar with it having been lucky enough to do it a few more times, it was different.

On coming off the bench that day in 2021, Ashman said: “I would typically get more nervous on the bench. You see the boys go in and you try to analyse and think about the game. When you start, you’re on and all nerves go as you are on autopilot in a flow state. But when you’re on the bench and the whistle goes, you get a bit more nervous, you know, and realistically you’re coming on in the second half. So you brew that first 40 minutes and get more nervous as it goes on.

“I can’t remember exactly when I came on, if it was eight or 12 minutes or something, but I thought ‘typical’ that this happens on my debut and I knew I was going to play 70-odd minutes, but I enjoyed every second of it and I soaked it in when I was running onto the pitch, then it was a blur!

“Lifting the trophy [the Hopetoun Cup] and seeing my friends and family was a moment I could reflect on and realise how unbelievable it was, and that feeling continued for a week after as I’d achieved this childhood dream.

In recalling the try itself, he added: “There wasn’t much of a thought process; it was the only time Schoey [Pierre Schoeman] has actually tipped the ball on to me I think! He made me look good and I managed to squeeze into the corner. He still reminds me every day that my career is solely down to him passing the ball there!

You can read the interview in full in this Saturday’s Scotland v Australia matchday programme, available at the game or online here.