Leicester's Ashton reaches 100 Premiership tries with hat-trick

Reuters

Ashton is retiring at the end of the seasonReuters

Chris Ashton (36) became the first player to score 100 tries in the English Premiership with a hat-trick in Leicester's 62-19 win over Exeter, with the ex-England winger thanking teammates for helping him over the line ahead of his impending retirement.

Ashton, who scored 20 tries in 44 test appearances for England between 2010 and 2019, announced last week that he would retire from professional rugby at the end of the season.

"I've had an overwhelming week with the retirement and stuff, but my motivation has always been the same - to score tries for my team and it was no different today," he told the BBC.

"I've struggled the past few weeks just to get fit but I felt good out there - I almost thought, 'have I retired too early?' Maybe that's the best way, you need a goal, a focus as a professional player and I left myself two games, so I had to get it quickly.

"The lads have really been behind me, trying to help and support as much as they can. They know how desperate I was to get it and I'm very grateful to them."

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EnglandChris AshtonLeicester TigersRugby UnionPremiership Rugby