Chris Ashton’s hopes of winning an England recall this autumn have been dealt a hammer blow after he was hit on Thursday night with a seven-week ban for a tip-tackle during a pre-season friendly with Sale.

Ashton will have just one match to prove his worth before Eddie Jones names his autumn squad in October after the player was found guilty at a Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing. It is a major setback for Ashton in his pursuit of a first England cap since 2014, having moved to Sale in the summer from Toulon to press his World Cup claims.

It is also the worst possible start to Ashton’s Premiership return – he will miss Sale’s first six league matches – having enjoyed a record-breaking season at Toulon last term, and a horrible sense of deja vu for Sale’s marquee summer signing. In January 2016 he was suspended for 10 weeks for making contact with the eye area of Ulster’s Luke Marshall and in September that year he was banned for 13 weeks for biting Northampton’s Alex Waller.

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Both bans are fundamental reasons as to why Ashton has not played for England under Jones but he had earned an immediate return to the squad for a pre-season training camp in August, upon his return to the Premiership.

Ashton is now almost certain to miss the September camp, and has only Sale’s European Challenge Cup fixture away against Perpignan on 12 October to demonstrate his form before Jones names his autumn squad six days later.

The player contested the charge, having been sent off last Friday in an ill-tempered win against Castres in which three players were shown the red card, and Sale believe he was the subject of intense provocation from Rory Kockott, who was also sent off and subsequently received a one-week ban. It is understood Sale believe contact was made with Ashton’s eye area in the fracas.

Sale’s director of rugby, Steve Diamond, said: “If you’re defending yourself on a rugby pitch when things go on that are over and above what we expect then red mist doesn’t come into it. It was self-defence. Chris Ashton defended himself as any of you lot would defend yourself.

“I’m pissed off that he got sent off but in extreme circumstances where he defended himself. I’d take a red card for any other Sale player if they defended themselves the way Chris Ashton did.”

The disciplinary panel insisted that “provocation is not a defence to foul play”. Once Ashton had been found guilty six weeks was the minimum ban he could have received and that was extended to seven when taking into account his previous record.

“It is an important principle of rugby regulation to prevent injury to others,” Richard Whittam, who chaired the panel, said. “Provocation is not a defence to foul play and lifting a player and dropping that player such that his head makes contact with the ground has the potential to cause serious injury. While in this case the panel accepts no injury was caused, it still amounted to foul play that clearly met the red card threshold.

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“The absence of injury and that the action was as a result of a level of provocation meant that the panel found this was a low-end entry point. Mr Ashton’s poor disciplinary record was an aggravating feature and the panel added one week to reflect that. The panel considered at length the prescriptive list of factors in relation to mitigation, but none were sufficient to reduce the length of the sanction.”

Diamond hopes Ashton will hit the ground running when he does become available. “He is a world-class finisher, apart from his indiscretions on the field now, and then he is a top-class pro, he’s a northern lad – he ticks a lot of boxes,” he said.