England and Saracens winger Chris Ashton has lost his appeal for making contact with the eye of Ulster’s Luke Marshall last month.

Ashton appeared to gouge the eyes of Ulster centre Marshall during a Champions’ Cup group stage game on 16th January at Allianz Park.

Despite originally being called-up to England’s Six Nations campaign by new coach Eddie Jones, Ashton will now miss out after losing his appeal, meaning that he will be out of action for ten weeks, but more significnlty, the 28-year-old will be unable to feature in England’s 2016 Six Nations tournament.

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It’s a massive blow for Ashton and for England, with the pacey winger having a tremendous season for Aviva Premiership leaders, Saracens.

Ashton insists that he never intended to make contact with Marshall’s eyes, and admits that he’s extremely disappointed.

“I now plan to look ahead to the rest of the season and work as hard as I can during my ban,” he added in a statement on the Saracens website.

“I vehemently maintain that I have never made an attempt to intentionally make contact with the eye area of any other player.

“To miss out on the chance to represent my country and Saracens during this period is extremely disappointing, but the judgement stands and it is one that I will respect and accept.”