Author Archives: Paul Clarke

U13 League 1 and League 6 Results

All the U13s turned out this Sunday to play two League games simultaneously at home at Ealing Trialfinders.

In League 1 our boys faced Harpenden who we have met before at minis festivals. Ealing soon took a substantial lead over their opponents scoring 8 tries in all. Harpenden to their credit never gave up and the game was more even in the second half. They kept there heads up gaining a well earned try near the end.

The final score was Ealing 48, Harpenden 5. Another fine win for Ealing and establishes them firmly at the top of the league.

In League 6 we had our first outing for the Bs with many regulars returning and a first go for some of our new players. Hammersmith and Fulham brought a large squad and a mix of A and B players, but our team faired well and kept them at bay for much of the game.

The final score was Ealing 7, Hammersmith and Fulham 27.

Congratulations to them all but especially to Josh H, William S, Alex H and Oliver K who all made their first appearances in an Ealing shirt.

For full results and fixtures in the HML league see: –http://www.hertsmiddxleagues.co.uk/l/league/193474186.html

My Hen Laid a Haddock

This for all you England fans who will, of course, be supporting Wales from now on. It’s an easy to learn version of the Welsh national anthem.

Sing it along with the real thing and nobody will ever know you are not Welsh.

My hen laid a haddock on top of a tree
Glad barks and centurions throw dogs in the sea
My guru asked Elvis and brandished Dan’s flan
Don’s muddy bog’s blocked up with sand
Dad, Dad! Why don’t you oil Aunty Glad?
When oars appear on beer bottle pies
Oh butter the hens as they fly.

U13 – First League Victory

The U13s turned out in full force this Sunday morning with a squad of 22 for their first, ever, League game, competing in the Hertfordshire and Middlesex League. By a fortunate turn of circumstances they were given the first team facilities and pitch for their League 1 match against Hertford. (We can’t promise this every week folks – but it was quite an occasion for our age group).

So, for one sunny Sunday September morning our bold U13s ran out like the Ealing first team, represented their club and emulated their senior counterparts with a glittering display of rugby.

Our Ealing boys soon gained a substantial lead over their opponents scoring 7 tries in fifty minutes of play with 5 converted in all.

Hertford to their credit battled on valiantly and never gave up, gaining a well earned try at the end.

The final score was Ealing 45, Hertford 5. A fine win for Ealing U13s.

Congratulations to them all but especially to Dylan B, Dillon C, Sasha S, Lucas R and Thomas L who all made their debut appearances for Ealing in an A team fixture.

For full results and fixtures in the HML league see: –http://www.hertsmiddxleagues.co.uk/l/league/193474186.html

U7 Rugby

Home training starts at 12pm, so all players and parents need to be there for 11.45am ready for a prompt start. Training usually last approximately 75 – 90 minutes.

U7 sees the start of competitive rugby with fixtures both home and away from home. Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club have regular fixtures in the Middlesex Rugby calendar, which are centred around October, November, March and April. All fixtures home and away are included free of charge within the annual subscription and our aim is to get as many players as possible participating in regular fixtures at every opportunity.

Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club also participate and organise the West London Development League, a series of rugby festivals dedicated in giving developing players a chance to play festivals and play competitive matches with a number of local minis clubs such as Rosslyn Park RFC , London Irish RFC and Teddington RFC.

Rugby is in our opinion the best way for children to learn and understand team sport, to meet and enjoy playing with other children and above all enjoy their Sundays. If this sounds like it might be of interest to you and your children, please come along for a free 3 week trial and see what it’s all about. We all love it!

U8 Rugby

Home training starts at 12pm, so all players and parents need to be there for 11.45am ready for a prompt start. Training usually last approximately 75 – 90 minutes.

Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club have regular fixtures in the Middlesex Rugby calendar, which are centred around October, November, March and April. All fixtures home and away are included free of charge within the annual subscription and our aim is to get as many players as possible participating in regular fixtures at every opportunity.

U9 Rugby

Our aim above all is the children to come first and for them all to enjoy themselves playing rugby within a competitive environment. The U9 age group is the start of contact rugby and the introduction to tackling.

Home training starts at 12pm, so all players and parents need to be there for 11.45am ready for a prompt start. Training usually last approximately 90 – 120 minutes.

Another strong Academy performance against Army U23

Ealing Trailfinders Academy v Army U23 won 25-14

Our annual fixture against the Army is always an exciting week for all involved in the Academy, following a strong performance against London Scottish there was a good feeling in the build to today’s fixture. This was in stark contrast to last season when injuries had taken its toll on a young squad.

The army Stadium at Aldershot offers a nice wide pitch and a great surface, the Autumn sunshine certainly brought out the best in both sides, the early encounters were hard and very quick, Ealing made much of the running, putting together some good phases, strong Army defence meant a solitary penalty by Yun Shun Luk was all we had to show for our efforts.

Strong scrummaging, evident in our last match, was again an area of dominance for the young Trailfinders, some very strong running by U18 lock Lewis Ellingham and flanker Tyler Bush meant the Army had to be at their very best to stay in touch, the first half finished two penalties a piece at 6-6

The second half started well for Ealing with a great chase at the restart and a charge down, gather and 20m run in by Bush, converted from wide out by Luk. A lapse in concentration from the restart put pressure on ourselves and another breakdown penalty allowed the team in red to narrow the lead. There was a stark contrast between our attacking and defensive restarts and will certainly be an area for some work over the coming weeks.

The tempo of the game remained high, a credit to both young sides and great advert for development rugby, new Academy member Ellis McCausland-Swan, returning to the club after a period with the London Broncos RL Academy, made some telling carries, hit some lovely angles and made good yards, his partnership with outside centre Chris Hitchcock looks promising. It was Chris Hitchcock who scored next, this time combining with Danny Higgins to ghost through the Army defensive line and score under the sticks, giving Luk a simple conversion.

Ealing were in good form and lost little shape despite ringing the changes, and skipper Marcus Lowe scored next with a powerful blind side run for the line.

Fatigue told for the final score, this time to the Army with the Ealing defence running out of steam and bodies to allow a try wide on our left.

All told, a great day for all involved, a wonderful opportunity to connect with our Armed Services and show our support for all they do.

Congratulations on Academy debuts for McCausland-Swan and prop Max Young, next up are Brunel University in two weeks under lights, can’t wait!!!

See you at training…..

Ealing Trailfinders Academy

Steadman L, Fessal, Hitchcock C, McCausland-Swan, Walker, Luk, Hacohen, Lowe ©, Avis O, Bush, Ellingham, Wake, Chamnaoui, Joyce, Nikolatos

Replacements

Hitchcock T, Young, Vosabalavu, March, Leonard-Fox, Steadman J, Higgins D, Hissey, Adeleke

Scorers

Tries – Bush, Hitchcock C, Lowe

Cons – Luk 2

Pens – Luk 2

Four Academy tries overcome Scottish Rampant Lions

Ealing Trailfinders Academy v London Scottish Academy won 24-7

Saturday’s fixture came at the end of a productive pre season period for the Academy, facing our near neighbours London Scottish gave us a great opportunity to assess players new and old. A break in the recent poor weather also helped the ambition of both sides to play with the ball in hand.

The games first period was a tense and even affair, London Scottish had a very strong midfield unit and coped well with our attacking efforts there. Where we were in the ascendancy though was in the pack, repeated strong drives at scrum time brought a string of penalties allowing us to gain good field position to work an improved lineout performance, Will Day linked well with No8 Marcus Lowe and flanker Tyler Bush to provide good quality possession. Strong running from flanker Freddie Avis and his link play with scrum half Shay Hacohen was encouraging.

It was late in the first period before we were able to stretch the well organised Scottish defence to breaking point, winger Louie Walker going over on the right after a strong run, Yun Shun Luk added the conversion to make the score 7-0 at the 1st break.

Wholesale changes for the second period saw no drop in quality and back row duo Oscar Avis and Felix Leonard-Fox brought huge energy to our running game along with prop forward Tim Hitchcock making strong carries. While the quality of our line out dropped the scrum just got stronger with trialist Felipe Vosabalaku looking very strong in the unfamiliar tight head berth.

Brothers Josh and Lewis Steadman formed a productive 9/10 partnership (one of four pairs of siblings playing) and it was scrum half Josh, who has been training with the Trailfinders Pro Squad for the summer, who scored with a typically sparky tap and go penalty to extend the lead to 12-0. A great defence set on our own line showing strength, technique and determination finished off a good second spell.

Our dominance continued into the third period, the line out began to function again giving better possession for Steadman at 10 and better depth in the midfield caused many questions for the Scottish midfield and wider defenders. Dyneal Fessal, fresh from a midweek game with loan club Henley Hawks, coped well with the added pressure of playing at outside centre as opposed to his familiar wing slot.

The pressure caused by an long periods of good possession and field position took its toll and No8 Lowe powered over the line close to the sticks for a try converted by Lewis Steadman.

London Scottish took advantage of a sleepy restart receipt from us and their lively scrum half went over to make the score 19-7. Encouragingly though it was Ealing who finished the stronger side and centre Dan Higgins finished the scoring and capping a good day at 24-7.

All in all, a very good display with consistent performances despite the disruption of shortened periods, new faces, new positions and unfamiliar combinations. To continue from the good showing at the Harrow Tournament bodes well and we go into our preparations for our game against the Army U23 in good shape.

Ealing Trailfinders Academy

Adeleke, Avis F, Avis O, Batt, Bush, Chamnaoui, Day(c), Ellingham, Fessal, Hacohen, Higgins D, Higgins W, Hissey, Joyce, Hitchcock C, Hitchcock T, Leonard-Fox, Lowe, Luk, Martin, Nikolatos, Okpaloafe, Samms, Steadman J, Steadman L, Townshend, Vosabalaku, Wake, Walker,

Scorers

Tries – Walker, Steadman J, Lowe, Higgins D

Cons – Luk, Steadman L

Why rugby has backs – Explained at last

At Last a rational explanation of the Game:

It is largely unknown to players and followers of the modern game that rugby started off purely as a contest for forwards in opposition in line-outs, scrums, rucks and mauls. This pitted eight men of statuesque physique, supreme fitness and superior intelligence in packs against one another. In those days, the winner was the pack that won the most set pieces. The debasement of the game began when backs were introduced. This occurred because a major problem was where to locate the next scrum or line-out. Selecting positions on the ground for these had become a constant source of friction and even violence.

The problem was resolved by employing forward rejects, men of small stature and limited intelligence, to run aimlessly around within the field of play. Following a set piece, the ball would be thrown to one of them, who would establish the next location either by dropping it or by throwing it to another reject for dropping. Very occasionally, a third reject would receive the ball before it would be dropped, and crowds would wildly cheer on these rare occasions. Initially these additional players were entirely disorganized but with the passing of time they adopted set positions.

For instance, take the half-back. He was usually one of the smallest and least intelligent of the backs whose role was simply to accept the ball from a forward and to pass it on to one of the other rejects who would drop it, providing the new location for the forwards to compete. He could easily (given his general size) have been called a quarter forward or a ball monkey but then tolerance and compassion are the keys to forward play and the present euphemism was decided on.

The five-eighth plays next to the half-back and his role is essentially the same except that when pressured, he usually panics and kicks the ball. Normally, he is somewhat taller and slightly better built than the half-back and hence his name. One-eighth less and he would have been a half-back, three-eighths more and he might well have qualified to become a forward.

The centres were opportunists who had no expertise but wanted to share in the glamour associated with forward packs. After repeated supplication to the forwards for a role in the game they would be told to get out in the middle of the field and wait for instructions. Thus, when asked where they played, they would reply “in the centre”. And they remain to this day, parasites and scroungers who mostly work as lawyers or used car dealers.

You may ask, why wingers? The answer is simple. Because these were players who had very little ability and were the lowest in the backline pecking order, they were placed as far away from the ball as possible. Consequently, and because the inside backs were so diligent in their assigned role of dropping the ball whenever they received it, the main contribution to the game made by the winger was not to get involved. Their instructions were to run away as quickly as possible whenever trouble appeared, and to avoid tackles at all costs. The fact that the game was organised so that the wingers didn’t get to touch the ball led to an incessant flow of complaints from them and eventually the apt description “whingers” was applied. Even though the “h” dropped off over the years, the whingeing itself unfortunately has not.

Lastly, the full-back. This was the position given to the worst handler, the person least able to accept or pass the ball, someone who was always in the way. The name arose because the forwards would understandably become infuriated by the poor play invariably demonstrated by that person, and call out “send that fool back”. He would then be relegated well out of everyone’s way to the rear of the field. So there you have it. Let’s return to the glory days of a contest between two packs of eight men of statuesque physique, supreme fitness and superior intelligence. The rest can go off to where they will be happier – playing soccer.

As published on All Blacks Supports Club website http://www.absupporters.com/

Men’s Second Team Manager

Want to get closer to rugby?

The Men’s Section commenced its 2015/16 season campaign with a friendly fixture away at Hammersmith & Fulham at the weekend. This gave our first and second team squad a splendid opportunity to get some match readiness before the league campaigns begin. The Section’s preparations have been very thorough and everything is in place, with one exception being the Second Team Manager.

The Second Team Manager attends all Second Team fixtures (see list below), and works with the Dave Samuels, the Second Team Coach and Physio Olivia Chapman to provide support to the players.This includes sorting pre-match warm-up kit, issuing and collecting match shirts, arranging any travel arrangements, sorting meals, and (of course) enjoying beer and banter with players, supporters and opposition. In short providing logistical support to enable Captain Ash Spencer and his players to concentrate on the playing matters for the day.

So if you’d like to get directly involved in helping the Men’s Section, or you know of someone who might relish this opportunity, then let me know.

Paul Clarke 07736 110560

Second Team Fixtures 2015/16

This season the Second Team competes in the Midlesex Merit League Division Two. The team narrowly missed promotion last season and intends to do better this season.

The full set of fixtures can be found HERE.