Born in Toronto, Canada, Ashman qualifies for Scotland through his Edinburgh-born father. He came through the ranks at Cheshire’s Sandbach RUFC, playing at centre and in the back row before switching to hooker in 2016.

He represented Scotland at U16, U17 and U19 levels before a prolific spell at U20. At the 2019 World Rugby U20 Championship in Argentina he finished as the tournament’s top try-scorer with seven tries, the first front-row forward ever to do so.

He then topped the try-scoring charts again in the Covid-curtailed 2020 U20 Six Nations, scoring 10 tries in 15 U20 appearances in all.

After a short loan spell at Edinburgh in 2019, Ashman made his Premiership debut for Sale Sharks in September 2020 and was part of the squad that won the Premiership Rugby Cup that season.

His breakout campaign followed in 2021/22, with eight tries in 18 appearances. That November he marked his Scotland debut with an acrobatic try in the corner to help secure a famous 15-13 win over Australia at BT Murrayfield.

Ashman joined Edinburgh ahead of the 2023/24 season and made an immediate impact, scoring a dramatic last-minute winner on his debut against the Emirates Lions. He finished his first campaign in the capital with seven tries.

His international try-scoring has continued at a remarkable rate. That includes a first-half hat-trick against the USA on the 2024 summer tour, and five tries in the 2025 Autumn Nations Series, with a score against New Zealand and braces against Argentina and Tonga.

Those tries made him Scotland’s all-time leading try-scoring forward. In the summer of 2025 he was called into the British & Irish Lions squad in Australia, featuring against the First Nations & Pasifika XV to become Lion #888.

Ashman was Edinburgh’s standout performer in 2025/26, finishing as the club’s top try-scorer with nine tries, including five in the final four games of the season.

He swept the club’s major honours, winning the Scottish Building Society Men’s Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Season and the fan-voted Caullie Lug.

In May 2026 he committed his long-term future to the capital, signing a three-year extension that keeps him at Hive Stadium until 2030.