Sale Sharks sweat on referee's report after Chris Ashton is sent off for fighting in pre-season fixture

Sale Sharks could be without Chris Ashton for the start of the Gallagher Premiership campaign after their new signing was sent off for fighting during Friday’s impressive pre-season victory over French champions Castres.

Sale are unclear on the disciplinary process for pre-season fixtures and are sweating on a referee’s report from Romain Poite, the official who dismissed Ashton and Castres scrum-half Rory Kockott together following a second-half fracas.

Video footage of the incident shows Poite brandishing a red card to a bemused Ashton before making a swinging gesture with his arm, indicating that he believed a punch to have been thrown.

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The game, won 20-17 by Sale thanks to a first-half interception try from Denny Solomona, was a bad-tempered affair punctuated by six cards in total. There were three yellow cards, while Sale prop Alexandru Taurus also saw red for a dangerous clear-out.

Should Ashton’s case be taken further and a ban considered following Poite’s report, his chequered disciplinary record in England is likely to count against him.

Sale face Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop on September 1 and missing any league rugby would be a blow to a player who secure his own release from Toulon with a view to reviving his 39-cap international career, having broken the Top 14 try-scoring record in his first year in France.

Steve Diamond has used Ashton at full-back, where he spent a large part of his time with Toulon, in two of Sale’s pre-season fixtures so far. Last Friday, Ashton scored a try against Doncaster Knights after linking up with Solomona.

Eddie Jones, who included Ashton in his England pre-season training group at the start of this month, will also be keeping an eye on proceedings as they develop over the next 48 hours.

Elsewhere, it has been a mixed weekend for Premiership clubs gearing up for the start of the competitive season. Harlequins were thrashed 50-17 by Glasgow Warriors and Wasps went down 43-10 to Connacht on Saturday.

There were convincing wins for Saracens and Exeter Chiefs over Bedford Blues and Cardiff Blues respectively. With Danny Cipriani watching on from the stands at the Kingspan Stadium, Gloucester beat Ulster 29-17.

In Wales, Northampton Saints overturned Dragons 42-10, with Bristol narrowly losing 28-19 to Scarlets.

On Friday, Bath edged out Edinburgh 12-10 thanks to a try from Jamie Roberts, but Leicester Tigers were ousted 26-10 by Italian outfit Benetton Rugby.

However, the most eye-catching result came in Dublin, where Newcastle Falcons made a resounding statement of their intent to build on last season. They landed six tries in a 42-17 defeat of European champions Leinster at Donnybrook.