Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Ealing Trailfinders set to appear on BT Sport

Ealing Trailfinders are set to be showcased to the nation when they feature on BT Sport’s flagship rugby show, Rugby Tonight.

The programme airs on Monday 10 November and club members over the age of 16 have the chance to appear alongside members of the first XV on the programme.

Anyone interested needs to arrive at Stratford Underground Station (Central, Overland and DLR) by 18.00 on the night and must let either Natalie Winton (natalie.winton@etprm.com) or Jeremy Inson (jeremy.inson@etprm.com) know beforehand.

Last season former player Ed Siggery appeared on the show and presented host Craig Doyle with a shirt. This year the aim is to help raise awareness of the Jack Fishwick charity calendar.

It is a fantastic opportunity for us to promote the whole club together with our position as National 1 league leaders, our vibrant Mini and Youth sections and thriving Men’s Section and of course the good work we have done with our calendar and recent fundraising efforts.

Rugby Tonight is a mixture of insight and analysis of Premiership and European rugby by famous names such as Lawrence Dallaglio, Matt Dawson and Ben Kay as well as the promotion of grassroots rugby.

U16 News W/E 02/11

Well done to all those who played in the match against Bracknell last Sunday.

Wednesday 29th October – Training 18:45 – 20:00

Sunday 2nd November – Away at Chobham. Meet 11:30 for at 12:30 KO. Please respond to the emails from Gerry Poyntz to let us know if you are coming.

Chobham rugby club is located at:

Fowlers Wells, Windsor Road, Chobham, Surrey GU24 8LD

U16 News W/E 26/10/14

Well done all who contributed to a great win over Wasps on Sunday.

This week:

Wednesday 22nd October – Midweek training 18:45 – 20:00. Last week the weather was poor and the numbers dropped. The coaches still gave up their time to attend so please appreciate their efforts by turning up yourselves. If you haven’t been for a while, now is the time to give it a another go. It’s no coincidence that the players who were our leading point scorers on Sunday all regularly turn up at Wednesday sessions.

Sunday 26th October – At home against Bracknell – meet 09:30 for a 10:30 KO. Please let us know as soon as possible whether you are able to play. There are no squad restrictions for this friendly match and there should be plenty of opportunity for everyone to get on the pitch and take part in some good rugby.

Evergreens 44 – 20 Fullerians

See report on Friday’s game 19th October below from BOF.

“A magnificent effort from each and every one of us finally gave victory over a tough Fullerians team that’s been in the making for over two seasons. We managed to score over 40 points despite JR repeatedly passing the ball to them every time he got it, Tel playing at 10 (a boyhood wet dream apparently), big French Stef wading in with those baguette hands, Jamie Carlin refusing the tight head prop position that was bestowed to him by Weeksey and for most of us having a ref that was young enough to be our son.

A cracking Evergreen evening that also saw some returning Ealing legends in Stokesy, Jacko, Dec Cronin, Stevie N who haven’t worn the famous Ealing green for some time.

Our return game with Fullerians is in approx. three weeks’ time, please be warned they will be up for the return so get down to the gym and stay off the pies at least till then.”

U16 News W/E 19/10 – Updated

Wednesday 15th October – Training 6:45 – 8pm.

Sunday 19th October – We currently have an A squad league fixture scheduled away at Wasps. Please respond to emails from Gerry Poyntz confirming if you are available for selection. League rules limit squad numbers to 22 so it is important you let us know you want to play.

Please note the Kick-off time for this match has changed at Wasps request. We are now meeting at 09:45 for an 11am start.

For those not selected you are invited to Wasps to participate in the warm up and pre-match drills. There will be no training at Trailfinders.

The B squad game that was scheduled against Harpenden will not go ahead as Harpenden have merged their under 16 sides into one squad.

U16s News W/E 12/10 – Updated

Well done all who played on Sunday in a hard fought match on Sunday.

Ealing 14 – 25 Hitchin

Wednesday 8th October – Training 6:45 – 8pm

Sunday 12th October – Training in Gunnersbury Park 09:45 – 12.

U16 News W/E 5th October

Well done to all who took part in Sunday’s match against Richmond. Two well matched teams played in the spirit of the game.

Wednesday 1st October – Midweek training 6:45 to 8pm

Sunday 5th October – A squad league match vs Hitchin at home. Meet 09:45 for 10:45 kick-off. If you are not selected for the squad there will be training at 09:45. Please respond to emails regarding your availability

Message from U16 Age Group Lead Coach – Paul Johnson.

Good first friendly game against Richmond on Sunday. We had a cracking mixture of players out there in the sunshine and there were some very positive passages of play going on. We played 3 periods of 20mins and won 2 out of 3 of those periods! In total however, we lost 5 tries to 4. Something for both sides to be happy about I suppose. Paul H reminded all that Dee Chrissy and Jobe all made their Ealing debut games- so well done!

As a squad, we perhaps need to be consistent and not play in spurts and switch off between time. We also need to work hard on how to set the defensive line i.e. identifying roles and responsibilities and lastly taking the ball into contact and retaining possession. Lots to work on then chaps. Worth remembering that Richmond were fielding an experimental side as much as possible too. I feel the real difference between our squads was the size of their squad compared to ours, on the day.

Next week we have our first league game against Hitchin – doubtless they will be a well drilled tough side. A plea then to all to make themselves available for the league game and communicate the same to Jerry ASAP. We will look to take a full quota of subs and, if all can commit to this league campaign, then we should be able to field a really strong side with options to sub-in players during the game. Those not selected for the game will train for an hour from 10 till 11 and then go across and cheer on the lads in the league game.

Elsewhere in the Academy our U18 went out of the Colts Cup, losing to a strong Esher side by a margin of some 20 points and our U23 had a tough encounter against the British Army U23 going down 55 points to 10.

All the best everyone and I hope to see many of you as possible on Wednesday for training.

U16 News W/E 28th September

Wednesday 24th September – Training 6:45 – 8pm. If you’ve not been to midweek training this season, now is the time to make the effort and come along.

Sunday 28th September – All players away at Richmond. Meet 11:30. Directions here:

http://www.richmondfc.co.uk/index.php/club/finding-us

Sunday 5th October – A squad League match at home v Hitchin. Please respond to emails regarding availability for this match. Those players not selected will be training.

U16 News W/E 21/09/14

Wednesday 17th September – Training 6:45 – 8pm.

Sunday 21st September – Training 09:45 – 12:00

Looking ahead to next week:

Sunday 28th September – Both squads away to Richmond for friendly fixtures. Time to be confirmed but likely to be 11:30 for a 12:00 kick-off. Please respond to emails to confirm your availability.

Wheato hails continued improvement

Ealing Trailfinders centre Tom Wheatcroft believes there was a definite step up in quality as the team won 47-30 away to Old Albanian on Saturday.

The side had already claimed a four try bonus point before halftime and ended the match narrowly short of the half century after scoring seven tries, three more than they scored in the 22-10 win over Loughborough Students on the opening day of the season.

“It is an important improvement from last week,” Wheatcroft said. “Last week we were very disappointed with the result as we expected to put a few more points on them.

“In the first half today we were far more clinical and were doing the basics very well.”

Having built up a 26-6 lead at the break after a brace from Phil Chesters a classic number 8 pick-up from captain Tom Brown and a scrum penalty try, flanker Danny Kenny stretched the lead further still with a fifth try five minutes into the second half.

However, the home side responded in fine style and quickly ran in three converted tries that closed the gap to three points with a quarter of the match remaining.

“We were a little bit disappointed towards the end of the game,” Wheatcroft added. “I think we took control of the first half and then for 20 minutes after the start of the second half we slipped off a little bit, missing tackles and letting them back into the game, but it is good that we got back into the game in the last 10 minutes and grind out a win.”

Nonetheless Ben Wards’ side calmed down and rediscovered their rhythm to close out the match with tries from prop Alex Penny and a second for Brown on the stroke of fulltime.

“We just said don’t panic, just do the basics well because that’s what we did well in the first half,” Wheatcroft said.

“I think we tried a few different things in the second half and obviously they weren’t coming off doing silly things that we normally wouldn’t do. Just do the basics well and stick to our game plan.”