Fortune puts the boot into England again
England's 'Tour of Hell' was thrown further into the satanic abyss on Wednesday with news that a further four players will be unavailable for Saturday's second Test against South Africa in Pretoria.
Mike Brown, James Simpson-Daniel and Andy Farrell have all succumbed to the stomach illness that has ravaged the tour party since their arrival, whilst Andy Hazell has failed to recover from the knee injury which he suffered in Bloemfontein.
Such is the severity of the illness that has struck Simpson-Daniel and Farrell that they are not in a stable enough condition to fly home. Simpson-Daniel has failed to train all week, and was a doubt to even make the first Test but recovered enough to take his place on the bench.
As a result of the latest batch of setbacks England have called upon Bath and Saxons utility back Nick Abendanon, who will land in Johannesburg late on Wednesday, having been called in from the Saxons squad who are preparing for the Churchill Cup final.
"As a result of being left a little bit thin in the back three area Nick Abendanon, who can cover both full-back and wing and was man of the match for the Saxons on Monday, is flying out tonight," confirmed Ashton.
With the fitness of the squad changing by the hour, England will delay announcing their side for Saturday until Friday afternoon, or possibly even the morning of the game.
A further injury concern for England is that of inspirational captain Jason Robinson, who has fluid in his knee, although Ashton is fully confident he will take his place in the side.
"Jason Robinson is in the process of rehab, he came through what was required of him this morning at the gym and pool and should take his place in the team run on Friday," said Ashton.
If Robinson fails in his bid for fitness, England will be severely depleted in the back three, something Ashton is only too aware of.
"We have talked about all the possibilities as far as the back three goes but we will have to wait to see what happens over the next few days," he said.
"Mathew Tait has played on the wing in a Test before but we really have to wait and see how the next two days shape up before we can make final decisions.
Despite the catalogue of injures and illness that have ravaged an already-depleted squad, Ashton is not looking for sympathy and certainly not offering up excuses before what will be another monumental Test on Saturday.
"I would like to say that I am not making any excuses before the game here, I am just stating the facts of where we were at," Ashton stressed.
"I cant fault the players that we do have available and there has been a very positive attitude amongst the squad.
"We actually trained as well on Wednesday morning, in terms of organisation, technique and enthusiasm, as we have all tour. I cant fault the players on that side at all, and they are ready and they will be ready to play in a Test match on Saturday against the Springboks."
The harsh reality facing England now is they will go up against a full-strength South African side with what can at best be described as a patched-up team. This is not a factor Ashton is allowing to affect his squad and he is expecting a more mentally mature performance from them this week.
"I am expecting a stronger and more intelligent performance than we put on last Saturday.," Ashton said.
"I think the players are bitterly disappointed with what happened last week. They felt that they let themselves down in the last eleven minutes of the game by turning ball over and the conceding tries.
"This week I will be looking for a more mature and controlled approach to the game, and it is something I firmly believe we an achieve.
"We need to have a strong mentality to ensure that we don't make the same errors and concede points like we did in the first half and the last eleven minutes of the second half."
As has been the case throughout this tour much attention has been focused on the Rugby World Cup and the possible detrimental consequences this tour may have. However Ashton was quick to stress that, despite the nature of his first tour as England head coach, there are positives to be taken.
"To some extent there has been some clarity in my thinking behind what I looked to gain from this tour but there has been major interference and there is no hiding it," conceded Ashton.
"In my mind one or two players have put there hands up and said we are worth another look at, and on the same level there are one or two who have done the opposite."
The spotlight has once again been on Andy Farrell, who due to his ongoing illness will return home having failed to further his World Cup case, one that was shaky at best before he arrived on South African soil. Ashton, whilst not giving anything away, stressed that he will now have to review Farrell's situation before he announces his World Cup training squad in two weeks time.
"It is not an ideal situation for him and it is something we will have to consider now as we look forward to announcing that training squad," he said.
By Marcus Leach in Centurion