Six Nations 2013: England under-fire wing Chris Ashton hits back, saying 'criticism hurts but my form is fine' Ashton has never really been a liability for England. He can occasionally flap at a tackle, invariably because he has got his positioning wrong, and he has in the past been guilt of being reckless when either flying up too fast or using his shoulder. He has been on the wrong end of yellow cards at club level for recklessness. "I am not afraid to tackle - I want to tackle," Ashton said. I want to hurt people, that was the issue with my shoulder-charging, I just want to hurt someone. I just need to realise it is not always a situation where you can fly in. I don't know where all this has come from. It is not, though, just Ashton's defence that has come under scrutiny. So, too, has his attacking prowess. When he first came on to the scene in 2010 he averaged a try a game, scoring four against Italy two years ago. Latterly he went through a spell of 11 Tests without scoring a try, though he ended the drought in some style in the victory against New Zealand at Twickenham in December. He looked sharp against Scotland, scoring one of England's four tries in the 38-18 victory. He is known as a poacher, tracking players to sniff out openings. But as much as that has brought rewards, there is a down side. "I am probably doing too much at the minute, chasing absolutely everything and tiring myself out for the situations when I am actually needed," Ashton said. A thing we are trying to work on is me getting in a situation where I am not chasing every­thing and putting myself in a position to get the ball instead of waiting for half chances. That is what [attack coach] Mike Catt is saying to me. I just absolutely chase everything and when the chance is there I am missing it because I have been chasing. It is seeing the right opportunity to pick your time to go after it. I have just got to realise the right time to strike. I can't sit back on what I did two years ago and be done with it - I have got to keep getting better myself and finding other opportunities, even in tight games and I am trying to do that. Ashton also dismissed claims that he had been unduly petulant when he threw the ball at his opposite number at the end of last week's victory against France at Twickenham, pointing out that Benjamin Fall had been provoking him. "There was no intent in it," Ashton said. Fall was trying to get at me the whole game. He was giving me a little nudge every time I walked past him - he nudged me in the head once. I was just trying to run the ball into touch and he was trying to drag me by my neck so I just popped the ball up. I didn't think it would cause the scuffle it did. That is Ashton, a fighter in all senses.