Robshaw Hopes Fans Stay Connected

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England captain Chris Robshaw hopes the recent incident involving Chris Ashton does not force rugby players to be "locked away at home".

The Saracens and England winger was attacked with a glass during a night out with his girlfriend in London.

"What people love about rugby is that they can still see you after a game having a drink with some mates, or going out for dinner," said Robshaw.

"That's the beauty of the sport, that we are connected [with the public]."

He added: "It's about finding the right balance - as soon as you lose that touch and isolate the players, it wouldn't be great for the game.

"The amount of people who get pleasure from having the odd interaction with players from time to time, in the street or in a restaurant or in a pub, far outweighs the odd bad incident."

Ashton revealed the incident on Twitter writing: "Some bloke decided to spoil an evening out for me and my missus. No stitches needed."

His club immediately issued a statement praising his restraint in light of the attack."I think that as rugby players we need to be seen and that's what people love about the sport, and players love that they can still go out and enjoy themselves," added Robshaw at the launch of England's new home kit.

"You don't want to be locked away at home and told you can't go out with your friends or your girlfriend, that you can't go to the theatre or wherever because someone might do something."

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Chris Ashton Attacked in London

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England winger Chris Ashton has been attacked with a glass during a night out with his girlfriend in London.

Ashton, 25, who played for Saracens in a 9-9 draw with Leicester at Wembley earlier on Saturday, was not seriously hurt and the police are not involved.

"Some bloke decided to spoil an evening out for me and my missus. No stitches needed," Ashton wrote on Twitter.

Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths said: "He is not in trouble at all and showed admirable restraint."

He added: "It is a reality that well known sports people are provoked by strangers and subsequent events are instantly tweeted.

"People will inevitably see this story and say an England rugby player is in trouble again.

"On the contrary, he was celebrating an anniversary with his girlfriend."

Ashton was with fellow Saracens players, their wives and girlfriends, when a stranger approached them and began an argument.

"A brief altercation occurred, which resulted in a friend of this stranger attacking Chris Ashton with a glass," a Saracens statement read.

"The Saracens winger suffered two minor cuts on the left side of his face, but neither required stitches."

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Henry believes England too Fearful

Former New Zealand coach Graham Henry has criticised England for being "the world champions at wasting talent" and playing "a game based on fear".

Henry guided New Zealand to World Cup success as coach in October, while England exited in the quarter-finals.

He told the rugbysite.com: "It seems that England are world champions at wasting talent.

"At national level and club level, English teams are far too worried about securing possession."

He added: "England has top-draw attacking players (but) they are seldom used.

"No wonder England had trouble scoring tries against the better teams at the World Cup."

He singled out Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and Delon Armitage as players who have impressed him but may never reach their potential.

Henry added: "A country with over a million players should be the best team in the world and England's potential in the backs is as good as it has ever been.

"But how frustrated those players must get in a white shirt.

"England and the English clubs played a game based on fear and a generation of promising backs are dying on their feet.

"That has to change."

Praising England's potential, Henry added: "Ben Youngs can also break teams up. Charlie Hodgson is a good navigator and made his mark when he came to New Zealand with the Lions in 2005.

"Manu Tuilagi is green but when he comes back from injury, he will prove himself to be a very good footballer. He has that explosiveness."

Henry believes that they need to alter their approach for the Six Nations, explaining: "England has a backline, but they will never fulfil their potential unless the team can win quick ball. This needs a total change of policy for the Six Nations.

"England must go to Murrayfield and stick it to the opposition. They have to smash the Scottish forwards past the ball instead of conservatively stopping at the tackled player in order to secure possession."

Henry contrasted England's approach with New Zealand's mentality, saying: "We want quick ball in New Zealand and so we concentrate on dominating the space beyond the ball carrier.

"We want our supporting players to get under the opposition and to move them backwards. We flood past the ball to create good possession for our strike runners.

"The English teams are paranoid that an opponent might steal the ball and so everyone jams on the brakes and seals off possession. It is fearful and often illegal."

Ashton Not a Saint Next Season

Northampton's Chris Ashton has told the club he will not be playing for them next season. The England wing, 24, is out of contract in the summer and expected to join Saracens.

On Friday, Saracens technical director Brenden Venter told South Africa's EWN Sport: "He is a talented individual which any team would love to have.

"I think there is a process in having a discussion and will probably be an announcement in the next few weeks."

Ashton has been able to talk to other clubs since New Year's Day, while Saints have said they will not break the bank to keep him at the club.

He has made 105 appearances for Northampton, scoring 95 tries, since his cross-code switch from Wigan in 2007.

It is understood that rather than money being a deciding factor, the player is keen on a change of scenery after four years at Franklin's Gardens.

He will now join up with his friend Joel Tomkins, the Wigan and Great Britain rugby league player.

But he will leave Northampton with a big gap to fill having proved he is a devastating finisher.

Although he has drawn negative publicity recently, having been banned for four weeks for pulling the hair of Leicester's Alesana Tuilagi and being reprimanded while at the Rugby World Cup, he was also the tournament's joint-top try scorer and has 15 in 18 Tests.