Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Academy launch new initiative at Nottingham

The Academy travel to fellow Championship Academy Nottingham Rugby on Saturday.

This years visit to the midlands will also see a combined U16 and U17 squad make the journey alongside the U20’s. The two clubs have agreed to broaden the fixture with a development game for some younger Academy players.

Senior Academy Coach Tom Gamage said “We are really excited to be able to include 8 of our U16 Emerging Player Group players in the Squad for Saturday. Nottingham have been fantastic in helping make the fixture work.

There is a real buzz about the Academy at the moment, we came up short in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and the boys are keen to prove themselves. Having the England Counties U18 game coming up helps focus the mind too.

We have a couple of lads making their Academy debuts, lock Cameron Lawes has joined us this month, he played against us for Bedford an is looking to push his development on. We also have a very exciting new addition in the back line, winger Josh Oranu has joined us from Chingford and has shown very well in training.”

Unfortunately, due to having 2 squads travelling, there will be no space on the bus for supporters. It would be great to hear some noise from our supporters to cheer the boys on. both games will kick off at 13:00.

The address for your SatNav is
Long Eaton Rugby Club
West Park
Wilsthorpe Road
Long Eaton
NG10 4AA

Academy to play England Counties U18 at Vallis Way

England Rugby Landscape Logo

It is with great pride that we can announce that Ealing Trailfinders Academy U19 will face England Counties U18 on Saturday 10th March at Vallis Way.

This is an exciting development for the Academy, being invited to assist in the preparation of an England Age Grade side is a huge privilege.

The Counties programme is part of the RFU Aspirational Pathway, designed to develop players who are not involved with the Regional Academies.

Academy Director John Lacey said “This is a fantastic opportunity for the Academy boys to test themselves against some of the best 18 year olds in the country. We are really proud to have been asked to take part.
It will be a great day for us all. I’m very excited for the boys who will be involved. We have come a long way in the last 4 years, this kind of recognition shows we are heading in the right direction. It is important to thank each of the Coaches and Managers who have worked so hard to make this a success.

A little bit of me feels sad for the boys who have been with us from the start who won’t be eligible to play. It’s their hard work that has built up our reputation to this point. However, I know that they will be right behind the boys involved. I’m sure it will be a big day out for the Academy and the club”.

We would love to speak to any local organisations and businesses who would like to support the event and Academy’s development over the coming years.

Kick off at 15:00 at TFSC, Vallis Way – see you there!

David Pluckrose RIP

It is with deep sadness that the Club has learned of the passing of our Minis Chairman, David Pluckrose.

David served on the Club’s Executive Committee as our newest member and was straight in at the deep end in driving through significant change to the way Minis rugby was being directed by the game’s governing body.

His efforts have set the template for the section and we are truly grateful for all his hard work in moving this forward. His overriding priority however was a simple one, to always ensure the children enjoyed their rugby and left the field with a smile on their faces. They did.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends. As soon as the club has details of funeral arrangements, they will be posted on this site.

Academy announce team to face Birmingham Moseley

Screenshot 2018-01-25 22.31.17

The Academy have named their side to face Birmingham Moseley on Saturday.

There are several new faces in the line up with debuts for no fewer than 7 players. The Academy U18’s provide 9 players, four of whom are U17.

Senior Academy player Conor McPartlin makes his debut for the Academy having recovered from injury.

Academy Director John Lacey said “We are all really excited to see this group of boys get on the pitch together. The group have worked very hard this week, training has been excellent.

What is especially pleasing is that you would be hard pushed to pick out the Senior Academy boys from the U18’s. The coaches from both groups deserve a pat on the back for that”.

Kick off at Vallis Way on Saturday is at 12:00 so please come along and support the boys. It makes all the difference hearing you cheer the boys on.

Academy reaches 1500 hour milestone yet again

The club’s Academy coaches have now delivered 1500 hours of coaching and support for the third successive season.

The Academy are working across many areas for the club.

The Community Programme sees the coaches working with state school pupils at Ealing Fields School. Funded by London Sport, the satellite club project is hoped to both raise awareness and participation in Rugby. We also hope that it can boost membership of the club in the longer term.

The Emerging Player Group (EPG) brings nominated players from the clubs U15/16/17/18 age groups together to improve on their fitness and skill levels.

The Senior Academy is predominantly made up of players from U19-U23. There a number of targeted U18 players who have impressed in the EPG.

Our Medical and S&C coaches have also made a massive contribution to the Squad performances this year.

Academy Director John Lacey said “This is a huge achievement for the Academy coaches, medical staff and managers. It is a source of great pride for us to take a moment to reflect on what we deliver. It is even more impressive when we think that this figure does not include management time or off the field mentoring and input by the coaches.

Our managers Annie Lyndon, Natalie Rose and Paul Flynn are all volunteers and very generously give untold hours to the smooth running of the Academy. Far too often woefully underappreciated. THANK YOU!!!

working with around 100 young players from the 15-23 is a real joy. As is widely documented it can be challenging demographic. However, I’m sure everyone involved with the Academy will agree, the rewards make it so worthwhile”.

The Academy are working hard to further develop the community programme and hope to announce exciting news in the coming weeks. Watch this space for updates.

Academy U20 prepare for Moseley visit

Moseley Promo

The next two sessions will be critical in the Academy’s preparations for the visit of Birmingham Moseley to Trailfinders.

After a good performance against London Welsh Griffins at the New Year, the squad make up changes again. This time more Academy U18 group players will be involved. There will also be a number of U17 age group players on the team sheet.

“Having U20 games at this point of the season really allows us to look at the younger lads in the Academy. We have been working with a lot of the U17/U18’s for several seasons via the Emerging Player Group. These games are their opportunity to show what they can do.

Moseley always prove a tough test, they are very direct and don’t take a backward step. We’ll have to be at our best from the start to be able to impose ourselves on the game”.

One player who wont be involved is U18 prop Harry Robbins who is rested before his London & South East Divisional trial on Sunday, I’m sure you’ll all join us wishing him the best of luck for the day.

Its an early kick off at Vallis Way so be sure to be there on time so you miss none of the action. There will be more Academy players in action for the Men’s section against Tring at 14:15 so why not make a day of it.

Keep your eyes open for the team announcement later in the week!

Moseley U20 up next at Vallis Way

Moseley

Birmingham Moseley are the next opponents for the Academy. They visit Vallis Way on Saturday 27th January. The cancellation of our fixture at Billesley Common means we haven’t played each other since last year.

Our U20 fixtures are a great opportunity for the Academy U18 players to step up and play in that challenging environment. Many will be looking to earn an invite in to the Senor Academy for next season.

We will be kicking off at 12:00 noon with the older players from the Academy representing the Men’s Section in their game against Tring at 14:00. Why not come along and make a day of it. Entrance is free for both games.

Academy announces new School partnership

Ealing Trailfinders Academy are extremely proud to announce a new partnership with Ealing Fields School.

The school will be the location for a new Ealing Trailfinders Satellite Club. The Academy will provide specialist coaching to pupils in after school sessions.

Currently based in Hanwell, Ealing Fields forms part of the Twyford Academies Trust, with Twyford School and William Perkin School.
Our partnership continues our involvement having delivered rugby coaching programmes in both schools over the last two years.

Academy Director John Lacey said “We are really excited to continue our community programme with another local school. Gary South at Ealing Fields has been excellent and has worked hard to get this off the ground.

We are passionate about taking rugby into State Schools and hopefully introducing more kids to the sport we love.

We’d like to thanks London Sport for the generous funding and look forward to working with the pupils over the coming weeks”.

Academy U18 prop makes Divisional trial

Ealing Trailfinders Academy are proud to announce that Academy U18 prop Harry Robbins has been selected to trial for London and South East Division.

Robbins, H

Having impressed in the recent U18 County competition, Robbins will trial at the end of January. If successful he will move on to play in the National Development weekend in late February.

Harry joined the Academy last year and worked hard with the Emerging Player Group. This season has seen him training up with the Senior Academy. He made his playing debut for the Senior Academy in Saturday’s win against London Welsh.

Academy Director John Lacey said “Harry has been a pleasure to work with since he joined us last year. He was released by Wasps DPP and could easily have got down hearted, but instead, he has worked really hard on his game.

He has trained up with the Senior Academy and has earned the respect of the boys. His strength is excellent and his work rate is improving all the time. He is our third Divisional trialist in 2 seasons, joining fellow prop Akeem Eubank-Anderson and Winger Reon Joseph.

We’d like to wish him luck with the trial, but first he has a National Colts Cup game to concentrate on”.

Morris gets Academy back to winning ways

Ealing Trailfinders Academy 61 – 15 London Welsh Griffins

With Christmas over and the New Year on its way the Academy welcomed our near neighbours London Welsh Academy to Vallis way on Saturday. The game started with the visitors dominating possession and territory, They were also first on the scoreboard.

It took a while to shake out the cobwebs that had formed in the 9 weeks since our last game. The young Trailfinders certainly looked like a side that hadn’t played together for some time.

As the clock ticked on there were signs of what we can usually expect, with pace and width applied to play. Tries for brothers Lewis and Josh Steadman and one for centre Ollie Morris changed to look of the half.

The second half saw a flurry of tries. Strong running and quicker ball caused the Exiles defence problems. Michael Rugely (2) and Alfie Hill crossed for tries.

Morris, O

Impressive centre Morris scored a further 3 tries in what was voted a Man of the Match performance by the opposition. Fly half Harry Vidler added 6 conversions in an impressive kicking display.

Academy Director John Lacey said “The score line doesn’t do Welsh justice to be honest. They made life difficult for us for periods. They scored first, at the finish of the first half and the end of the game.

When we played with quick ball and moved the point of attack, we looked dangerous. It was concerning that we struggled early on to break the game up.

There were some good performances to raise a smile. Ollie Morris had easily his best game for the Academy so far. James Wilson backed up some good training performances to stand out in the forwards. U18 prop Harry Robbins also made his Senior Academy debut.

We look forward now to our next fixture against Moseley at Trailfinders Sports Ground on 27th January. We’ll get the chance to look at some of our U18 EPG players in that one which is exciting.”

Ealing Trailfinders Academy

Steadman L, Luk, Morris, Townshend, Rugely, Vidler, Steadman J, Wilson, Hill, Day (c),Wake, Hodson, Eubank-Anderson, Joyce, Hitchcock

Chamnaoui, Robbins, Barton, Nash, Segre, Barry, Amiable-Lina

Scorers

Tries – Morris 4, Rugely 2, Steadman J, Steadman L, Hill

Cons – Vidler 6, Luk