Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Academy skipper to take his bow at National League 2

Academy skipper Marcus Lowe looks set to make his first appearance at National League level with our partner club Henley Hawks this Saturday when they take on Worthing Raiders at Dry Leas.

Dreamrobber

Dreamrobber

Marcus joins current and former Academy players Louis Flynn, Dyneal Fessal, Matt Killeen, Tyler Bush, Zi Alexis and Zaki Chamnaoui who have now played at Level 4 of the RFU League structure.

Academy Director John Lacey said ” This is great achievement for Marcus and is thoroughly deserved. He is another Ealing lad who has progressed through the Emerging Player Group, Senior Academy and played with the Men’s section at the club before moving out on loan. He has worked extremely hard over the last 3 seasons and has taken on board all the feedback from the coaching team. He learned loads during his time with the Pro Squad last season and we thank Ben and all the coaches for their support. This is another step along the road for Marcus and I’m sure he will approach making the improvements he needs to move to National 1 with the same effort he has always shown.”

Academy name team to face Nottingham

nottingham-flier

Academy Director John Lacey has named his side to face Nottingham away at Lady Bay on Sunday.

There are several changes from the side that drew with the Royal Navy earlier in the month due to the U21 age restriction of the game.

Prop Kadeem Collins makes his first start of the season alongside regulars Joyce and Vosabalavu while Lewis Ellingham returns from injury, a new look back row sees Skipper Will Day pack down with Ben Retter and impressive U18 No8 Zak Gregory.

Calum Nolan-Hutchinson starts at 10 with versatile back Reon Joseph moving to centre on his return from an excellent showing during the County U18 programme.

1. COLLINS
2. JOYCE
3. VOSABALAVU
4. ELLINGHAM
5. WAKE
6. DAY
7. RETTER
8. GREGORY
9. NURSE
10. NOLAN-HUTCHINSON
11. WALKER
12. JARVIS
13. JOSEPH
14. SAMMS
15. STEADMAN, J

16. BANNISTER
17. BARTON
18. MILLER
19. SMITH, D
20. HILL
21. McMINN
22. SLATER

Academy Coach Paul Johnson said “Having finished our first block of games against the Inter Services sides undefeated the boys are really looking forward to measuring themselves against our fellow Championship Academy sides. Being able to introduce some of the younger guys to the starting line up as well as promoting more of our Emerging Player Group members to the Senior Academy side is an excellent progression opportunity.”

Kick off at Lady Bay is at 14:00, some seats are still available on the team bus, contact Academy Manager, Annie Lyndon for more details.

Ealing Evergreens 43-12 Wasps Veterans

“If I should die, think only this of me: that there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever Ealing…” Rupert Brooke “The Soldier” (kind of).

11am on the 11th Day of the 11th Month the guns finally ceased.

Evergreens v Wasps

 

After our own minute reflecting on the events of yesteryear (no not Trump and Brexit – that’s so not over yet) the Evergreen Tommies came out with all guns blazing against a well dug in opposition (which is hard on a 3G pitch) in our own Battle of the Somme Vallis Way style. After barely three minutes were on the clock a clean break in open play from Pup allowed a clinical finish down the left flank by Whitehead minor for an unconverted try. Steenie then made a neat inside break to feed Stef down the blind side with the second phase ball being collected by the unmistakable Beck, who then converted his own try. 12-0 and the stick had been firmly inserted into the hornet’s nest. Wasps, fast to the breakdown and dangerous throughout in open play, responded with venom by scoring a try from a well executed inside pass from their 10 but no conversion followed.

A hallmark of the game was the power of the Ealing scrum, exemplified by a try for Steenie from a solid platform that allowed Pup to pick and go. Once converted this gave Evergreens a solid 19-5 lead. Late in the first half Pup was over for another converted try after sustained pressure from our other forwards led by Captain Usher, supported in the loose by his Lieutenants Nethers, Faz & Whitney.

The halftime talk was not complacent as Wasps had shown signs of real quality; rucking well despite losing a key player or two to the local field hospital. Indeed the casualty rate was high for both sides throughout with Julien shedding Allied French blood for his team and Tristan taking a knock that saw him pulled from the battle field after a great start to the game, necessitating an in-battle promotion for Stef to 9.

Scrum dominance continued in the second half with a push over try to complete Pup’s brace for the match (later voted Man of the Match, but what about hat trick avoidance skip?). Quick thinking by restarting with a rapid lineout, a big Gary Owen and magnificent hands put Whitehead minor in for his second too soon after. Another Beck conversion took it to 38-5, allowing the bench to be rotated regularly by Green (with unsolicited advice from those wise old Officers BOF/Hoban/Weekes) bringing on fresh legs such as Fab, Gianni and Whitney after a big shift from Dec/Ash/Whitehead Snr in the front row. In addition the engine room of Tim/Bill/Steve R & a strong Evergreens debut from Pon (Peter O’Neil – geddit?) get a mention in dispatches (well here at least). Our own very real Italian naval officer Giovanni then sailed over in the corner from a lineout catch and drive to ram home the bonus point bayonet into the Wasps belly.

poppyWhat depth on the bench you have if you can bring on the calibre of Hoban late in the game (oh and minis Dad, second time Evergreens cap & ex-Wasp Offiah) to hold off the expected late sting in the tail from the opposition’s resurgent swarm. Alas soon after a turnover try resulted from some poor Ealing hands late in the game; once converted the score was 43-12. Indeed Hoban continued his poor use of hands by swinging his handbag at some insolent youth from the Wasps lower ranks, but catching only the cooling West London evening air earning a potentially new nickname of “Poppy”.

MMT Vets

So top of the league with two bonus point wins under our belt, Jacko didn’t drop the ball over the line, Terry nearly back to full fitness and next game scheduled for Friday 2nd December…who could ask for more?

Academy announce team to face the Royal Navy

Navy Flier 2

Academy Director John Lacey has named his squad for this Sundays game against the Royal Navy at HMS Temeraire in the historic Naval town of Portsmouth.

Tim Hitchcock returns to the starting line up at Loose head prop following a knee injury while prolific try scorer Alfie Hill forms a new back row with Marcus Lowe and Will Day. U18 Emerging Player Group forward Alex Niang starts in the 2nd row in only his second Senior Academy game with fellow U18 EPG member Zak Gregory also featuring on the bench.

Winger Reon Joseph is on County duty but the back line has a very familiar look to it.

On announcing the side, John said ” Tim has worked really hard to get back on the pitch ahead of schedule and trained really well on Thursday. We missed Alfie’s pace going forward against the Army last time out and look forward to seeing if he can continue his good form with 9 tries in 4 games. We are really excited to include U18 forwards Alex Niang and Zak Gregory and thank St Edwards School Oxford and Henley College for supporting the boys Academy participation.

The back line is really settling down and has developed tremendously this season, in the first half against the Army they looked really dangerous with and without the ball.

The Navy are going to be a real handful on Sunday, they’ve played 6 games already this season so will be by far the most organised side we have faced this season. We are their last game before the Inter Services Championship so will need to be on the ball from the start, we cant wait to see what we can do.”

1. Tim Hitchcock
2. Chris Joyce
3. Fillipe Vosabalavu
4. Alex Niang (St Edwards, Oxford)
5. Nyall Wake
6. Will Day
7. Alfie Hill
8. Marcus Lowe (c)
9. Andrew Nurse
10. Max McMinn
11. Andre Adeleke
12. Luca Townshend
13. Chris Hitchcock
14. Rasaan Samms
15. Josh Steadman

16. Charlie Bannister
17. Kadeem Collins
18. Andrew Barton
19. Ben Retter
20. Zak Gregory (Henley College)
21. Alex Kritikos
22. Calum Nolan-Hutchinson
23. Noah Jarvis
24. Yun Shun Luk

It would be great to see some friendly faces in the crowd to cheer the boys on, if you can’t make the game, keep an eye out on Twitter @ETFacademy for updates

U14s at Home

ANOTHER great performance saw Ealing under-14 A register their first win of the season and retain bragging rights over arch rivals Rosslyn Park.

A bright sunny morning provided the perfect conditions for a hard-fought contest and both sides played their part.

Injuries and summer departures meant Ealing were fielding a number of new faces which makes the performance even more satisfying.

The green and whites opened the scoring in the first half when our winger showed his speed and strength to touch down in the top left hand corner.

And it wasn’t long before the opposite winger scored a fabulous solo effort.

Rossyln Park are always ought opponents though and soon pulled a try back to leave the game too close to call at half-time.

But Ealing took control after the break and with our backs always posing threat in possession, it took some quality tackling from Park to keep the home side at bay.

Most of the second half was spent in the Rosslyn Park half and a third try was a fitting reward for some hard work by the forwards.

The pack drove themselves into a dangerous position before launching a neat blindside move which was finished in powerful style by the flanker who had the strength to cross the line with two defenders in tow.

Park fought back strongly but some determined defending on the Ealing line ensured their lead was preserved until the final whistle.

It was a richly-deserved win which gives great encouragement for the rest of the season.

U14s Away games

U14s As – match report
Ealing Under-14 As were edged out by one point in a thrilling first match of the season at Old Albanians.
A bright start was made with backs and forwards combing well to win several phases of play and end up on the OA’s line.
But the home team were very well-organised and defended strongly until the danger had passed.
The game then developed into a tight affair for the rest of the first half but OA’s enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territory and their half-time lead of 5-0, courtesy of an excellent try following some strong back row running, seemed a fair return.
The second-half began in similar fashion to the first with Ealing camped on OA’s tryline but this time the pressure was more sustained and the homeside were at full stretch to keep the green and whites at bay.
A number of Ealing forwards were stopped just inches short and our new prop was desperately unlucky not to grab a debut try when he was held up over the line after a powerful drive.
But Ealing remained strong in the resulting five metre scrum and kept the pressure on until the ball eventually found its way out to the winger who skipped past his opposite number and dived over for a fabulous equalising try.
A difficult conversion was slotted over to put Ealing into the lead and the momentum seemed well and truly with the visitors.
This was highlighted just minutes later when Ealing scored a brilliant try to extend their advantage.
An attempted clearance was held up in the strong wind but fell perfectly for the winger who scooped the ball up on the right-hand touchline and showed the defence a clean pair of heels as he sprinted home from well inside his own half to touch down beneath posts.
Another successful conversion made the scores 14-5 in Ealing’s favour.
Lesser teams would have given up but OA’s showed great resilience and fought back strongly.
Their second try in the right-hand corner left Ealing with just a four-point lead but the balance of play had shifted once more and the OAs began to take control once again.
Some great defending and courageous tackling from the Ealing boys looked to have been enough to take a hard-fought win but with two minutes left and OA forward crashed over to give his side the slenderest of leads.
Ealing fought straight back and worked their way deep into OAs territory but the homeside hung on for the win.
A great game to watch thanks to two excellent teams who should both be extremely proud of themselves.

Match report U14B away to Harpenden
Our first game of the season didn’t disappoint the U14 B’s stepped up to the plate with no exceptions.
Harpenden have allegedly the largest membership in southern England and yet they couldn’t get much past the Ealing defence especially in the first half. Some quick scores early on gave a confidence boost and we led 21:5 at the break.
Harpenden began to get their act together and we started to tire in the second half. However, we finished 38:24 and were unlucky to concede late on so the score line rather flattered the locals who spent most of the game on the back foot.
The twins connected well in the middle of the pitch, our new prop came into his own in the second half and our scrum half made some great tackles but there were solid performances right across the team. Good defending, tackling, passing and teamwork added to speed at the break down and a powerful scrum – a great win to start the season.
Well done Ealing B’s.

Royal Navy test awaits the Academy

A difficult trip to The United Services Sports Ground in Portsmouth on Sunday awaits the Academy as they take on the Royal Navy U23 in their last Services fixture of 2016.

There will be plenty to play for as the two sides shape up to each other on Sunday, Trailfinders slipped to defeat against the Senior Service last time out in a disappointing performance at Vallis Way. With the Navy having played 4 games already in preparation for this years Inter Services Competition, they will easily be the best prepared side we have faced this season.

Academy coach Paul Johnson said “we look forward each season to measuring ourselves against the representative sides from the Armed Services, we have been keeping an eye out for how the Navy have gone this year after last seasons defeat and while they may not have got the results they’d have hoped for they will be well organised, familiar with each other and their systems and really looking to go into the Championship with a win. We’ll have to be at the very top of our game to have any chance of victory, we went to sleep in the second half of our last game and barely hung on for the win, we are all aware of the areas we need to improve to make sure we are competitive”.

Kick off at HMS Temeraire is at 14:00, if you happen to find yourself on the South Coast pop in and cheer on the boys…. alternatively keep an eye out for updates on our Twitter feed @ETFacademy

Coach Calling – Concussion

Gents,

You are no doubt aware of the current focus on concussion in sport and in rugby in particular. Please would you take a few minutes to read the below information, it is important.

RFU_HEADCASEThe below notes are just a subset of the information that is available and I would urge you to familiarise yourselves with www.rfu.com/concussion and ideally to complete the online interactive course that may be accessed there.

This process is for the benefit of players and is designed to assure your welfare; it is NOT optional. To assure a safe and appropriate return to the game then I must insist that you adhere to the process in full and would ask that you communicate clearly with our Physio and Management Team in this regard.

The RFU has identified four stages in this process:

RECOGNISE

It is imperative that all stakeholders, players, coaches, spectators, officials etc are able to spot possible concussions and their symptoms. Some of these indicators are listed below:

  • Knocked out
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Feel dazed, “dinged” or stunned
  • Loss of vision, seeing double or blurred, seeing stars or flashing lights
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Sleepiness
  • Stomach ache, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting
  • Poor coordination or balance, staggering around or unsteady on feet
  • Slurred speech
  • Poor concentration
  • Strange or inappropriate emotions (i.e. laughing, crying, getting angry easily)
  • Feeling generally unwell
  • Does not know time, date, place, period of game, opposing team, or the score in the game – use the Pocket SCAT3(PDF 128KB) questions to help you
  • General confusion
  • Cannot remember things that happened before and/or after the injury
  • Seems slow to answer questions or follow directions
  • Seems easily distracted
  • Not playing as well as expected
  • A blank stare/glassy eyed, “the lights are on but nobody’s home”

REMOVE

Should you consider that a player is concussed or that they are exhibiting any of the above then YOU should ensure that the player is removed from play without delay. A player who has been removed from play with suspected concussion should:

  • Must not return to play that day
  • Should not be left alone
  • Should be seen by a Healthcare Practitioner as soon as possible that day
  • Should not drive or ride a bike/motorbike
  • Should not drink alcohol

RECOVER

The recovery phase will take a MINIMUM of 19 days if the player recovers well and adheres to the process promptly and fully, (23 days for U19s).

The stages in this path to recovery are as below:

  • Day 0, Incident / Injury
  • Day 1 – 14, Stage 1, Rest, initially avoiding driving, reading, watching TV or using a computer

After completion of Stage 1 it is recommended that a player is seen by a Healthcare Practitioner to confirm that they are ‘symptom free’ and have been for at least 24 hours. When such confirmation is available they may proceed to Stage 2

  • Day 15                   Stage 2                  Light Aerobic Exercise
  • Day 16                   Stage 3                  Sport Specific Exercise
  • Day 17                   Stage 4                  Non-contact Training

Following successful completion of Stage 4 it is the player’s responsibility to obtain medical clearance before returning to play.

  • Day 18                   Stage 5                  Full Contact Practise
  • Day 19                   Stage 6                  Considered ready to return to play

If any symptoms recur whilst progressing through Stages 2 to 5 the player must consult with their Medical Practitioner before returning to the previous stage and attempting to progress again after a minimum 24h period of rest without the presence of symptoms.

As these activities are likely to take place away from the Club their outcome needs to be clearly and formally communicated to our Physio and Management Team so that a formal record may be maintained.

RETURN

Once a player has completed the recovery phase without recurrence of symptoms then they may be considered fit to return to play.

If you have any questions or concerns on any part of this process then please don’t hesitate to contact Matt or I.

Thanks for your co-operation and understanding.

Best
Nick Lambert
Head Coach – Ealing Men’s Section

Academy welcome Rhys Crane to coaching team

Ealing Trailfinders Academy have today announced the addition of 1st XV Pro Squad player Rhys Crane to the coaching team.

Rhys joined the club last season and finished up as top try scorer with 10 tries, he joined from London Welsh where he made 20 Aviva Premiership appearances. His previous clubs include Bath and Sale Sharks as well as being capped for England 7s.

On making the announcement, Academy Director John Lacey said “We are really excited at the prospect of Rhys joining the team, he is looking to develop his coaching alongside his full time playing commitments and the benefits of a current professional working with our young players is priceless. The boys will be able to see just what it takes to make the top grade in terms of skill development, time management and career planning as well as bringing fresh ideas to the coaching group. We’d also like to thank Ben Ward for allowing Rhys to work with us.”

Rhys will be straight to work next week helping prepare the side for the Royal Navy fixture on Sunday 6th November in Portsmouth.

Academy add London Welsh fixture

The Academy are excited to announce that an additional fixture has been added to the festive calendar with a Christmas Holiday match against near neighbours, London Welsh who have recently launched their own Academy programme.

The game will take place on Friday 30th December at Old Deer Park, kicking off at 13:00.

Academy Director John Lacey said “This is a great addition to our fixture list, its really encouraging to see another Championship club looking to develop young players. The timing is perfect, falling during the University holidays and a big gap in the League competitions, the game will allow us to check up on how our distance members and U18 Emerging Players are progressing and will also mean we can maintain focus during what can be a long down period for the players.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish London Welsh the very best for this new venture and will be looking to build a close relationship over the coming seasons”.

We would love to see as many of you there to cheer on the boys so make sure you put the date in your diary. Look out for regular updates here and on our Twitter feed @ETFacademy. #futuresbright