Author Archives: Paul Clarke

REPORT: Hammersmith 14 – 17 Ealing Jades

Ealing Jades played their second league game of the 2009-10 season against Hammersmith & Fulham at Hurlingham Park on Sunday 20th September.

Hammersmith & Fulham began the first half with a great deal of possession but were kept at bay by the Ealing Jades strong, flat defensive line. Under such immense pressure Hammersmith & Fulham soon began to fumble the ball and the Ealing Jades took advantage, playing some great go forward rugby as taught by their new coaches Stefan Glancy and John Richardson.

The first try by Ealing Jades came from a strong Ealing Jades scrum; the ball was shipped out to the backs, followed by some sturdy rucks which led to clean ball that was passed out to Yvette Burton who stormed through the Hammersmith & Fulham defence.

Hammersmith & Fulham refused to give up and did come back fighting with their full back running three quarters of the pitch to score their first try. But, Ealing Jades proved defiant and their scrums continued to provide their backs with more securely won ball which gave their scrum half, Kei (“Pikei”) Kinoshita the chance to weave through the Hammersmith and Fulham players to score Ealing second try.

The second half saw Hammersmith and Fulham come back fighting, determined not to be beaten on their home turf. But, some fantastically rucked ball and Ealing Jades continuously strong scrums saw the third Ealing Jades try set up with the ball passed to fly half Alexia Skipper and popped inside to inside centre Tasha Holmes. Tasha stormed over the line and Yvette Burton converted the try.

Hammersmith and Fulham did secure a try in the final ten minutes of play but the final whistle saw the final score stand at 14-17. Ealing Jades were triumphant!!

Man of the match went to Yvette Burton (F) and Kei (“Pikei”) Kinoshita (B)

The Ealing Jades bid a fond farewell to Claire Thompson and Fran Santoni who are leaving for a new job in Manchester and Durham University. We will miss you girls so please keep in touch!

REPORT: Haringey II 37 – 15 Ealing Exiles

This weekend saw the Ealing Exiles travel to North London for the season’s first Merit Table game against Haringey II. Although the Exiles had a reasonable team sheet only ten players actually turned up at the ground for the game.

A welcoming and gracious Haringey loaned Ealing four players and the game got under way with Haringey winning the toss and electing to receive. With good pressure from the kick-off Exiles prompted Haringey to clear their lines with a kick to touch.

From the line-out on the Exiles’ ten metre line, Steve R rose high into the air to catch the ball and set up a fifteen metre drive. James O’B then released the ball to the backs and through quick hands Adam T, our outside centre, took a crash ball and scythed through the Haringey defence before being brought to ground well inside their 22. The ball was recycled and Michael T was tackled just short of the line but Adam T went in at the corner for an unconverted try. This awoke the beast of a well-drilled Haringey side and saw Ealing Exiles defending for most of the half. Despite gallant efforts and some crunching defensive tackles, Haringey ran in two tries to close the half 12-5.

The second half started in the same vein with Haringey stamping their authority onto the game and the Exiles imploding under the pressure, resulting in three unanswered tries.

Now playing for pride, the Exiles regrouped in the final quarter and substituting tactical kicking for keeping the ball in hand, took the fight back to Haringey. Their efforts were soon rewarded when after a penalty and five phases the big tight head prop, on loan from Haringey, took a crash ball five metres from the line and with a surprising and deft sidestep for such a big man, scored without contact under the posts. Another of the Haringey boys in an Ealing shirt was disallowed a try for a very obvious double movement.

Haringey then took their tally of tries to seven, however as a final response Ealing’s forwards and backs combined, again skilfully moving the ball through hands, enabling Michael T to score in the corner. With neither side wishing to quit and both determined to score the final try, Haringey II emerged worthy victors well after full time when the ball was knocked on in mid-field.

Steve

Haringey II 37		Ealing Exiles 15
Tries:	(7)	Tries:	Adam T, loan player, Michael T
Cons:	(1)	Cons:
Pens:		Pens:
Drops:		Drops:

REPORT: Quintin II 5 – 12 Ealing Exiles

As the Exiles prepared to embark upon their 2009/10 season, the side was well down on signed-up players: a mere nine names were on the team sheet by Saturday morning!

Match day progressed and some begging and good fortune helped to conjure up 16 players in time for kick-off. For this, big thanks must go to Ash and the Cougars management for allowing the Exiles to take a second prop to the match (and thus losing a front row substitute themselves). Big thanks as well go to those players who were playing their first match for Ealing Rugby Club: Owen, Jamie, Paris, Hugh and Michael (two of these guys were expecting to spectate and actually ended up playing). Adrian from the Ealing Evergreens managed to help us out despite having been celebrating to excess with the aforementioned team the previous night down at London Irish!

Sadly the Civil Service Sports Club bar was closed to business. The Exiles trust that this is a short-term measure as it has always been a cracking club house in which to down a few after (and a half before) the match. On the positive side, the closure led to a much more sober and stretched set of Exiles, ready for kick-off in good time (perhaps a first in recent memory?).

Kick-off loomed, as did the bad news that Quintin IIs had not brought a front row with them. The opposition were very apologetic, but much to Ash’s disappointment the Exiles had to start the season with uncontested scrums. This eventuality was not quite as sad for Nick and Owen, who had found themselves promoted to hooker and prop respectively by default as the rest of the Exiles’ regular front row experts were unavailable to play for various reasons.

Hot conditions and the friendly nature of the game (Quintin kept 15 on the pitch despite the new "man off" rule) meant four quarters of twenty minutes were to be played. The Exiles won the toss and with the wind, but into the bright afternoon sunlight, kicked off on the sun-baked ground at Dukes Meadows; the ground was dry and hard as a result of the pitch being part of the cricket field the weekend before! Quintin were looking a little slimmer, younger and fitter than the average Exile, and without having the weapon of scrummage to hamper the opposition, the Exiles commenced battle with some trepidation. Fortunately, the Exile defenses were sound. Midfield stalwarts such as Paul T and newcomer Jamie did a splendid job. Little came through and little got very far.

It was only after the second quarter kick-off that points made it onto the board. Fly half Jamie managed to break the Quintin defense cleanly and ran in a long-range try with a deft little shake-off close to the line as he snaked away from a would-be tackler. For some unknown reason Jamie decided not to ground between the posts, instead placing the ball down about 15 or so metres to the right. Perhaps this was done just to test Spike’s kicking form? Not to worry: Spike stepped up to the challenge and the Exiles were 7-0 in the lead.

As the match progressed there were several injuries on both sides. The Exiles had already lost Owen towards the end of the first quarter due to a clash of heads (or was it elbow on head in a ruck?). At the death of the third quarter, Spike split his eye on an elbow. Luckily the First Aid bag (the Exiles are not going up in the world; it was on loan from the Evergreens) had some Steri Strips available and having previous form Barry and Nick managed to do a pretty good job at patching him up.

The attrition of the previous three quarters saw the Exiles fielding just 14 players for the final battle. It was not too long before Quintin managed to grind down the Exile defences and work a nice try, though thankfully they were forced into putting the ball down well away from the posts. The missed conversion attempt left the Exiles leading, albeit with a worrisome 7-5 scoreline.

Other memorable passages of play include Andy’s forceful runs making some headway here and there, Stef’s demonic tackling and Ash’s cycle of relentless pick-and-drives followed by a lie down and rest. The referee requested that Ash should desist from such activity as he was certain Ash would receive a serious head injury if he continued. Clearly the resting after going to ground was more convincing than that of the amateur actors down at the Stoop!

Afe also left the Exiles speechless after gathering the ball from a long Quintin kick deep inside the Exiles’ half. He beat the first few oncoming defenders to deliver (and almost gather) a wonderful kick just shy of the try line, in an area the opposition had seemingly and bafflingly not bothered to cover. Hugh was on hand to offer support but as the referee judged a knock on at the attempted gather, a stunning try was not to be. If it was not for the fumble, Afe would be deemed to be a genius. As it is, he just makes memorable passages…

Both teams worked hard on each other as the clock continued to tick down, with just the two points separating the sides. The Exiles maintained a fair bit of pressure on Quintin with several number 8 pickups from uncontested scrums close to the Quintin line, but did not quite manage to get through. Finally, Ash orchestrated a superb maul, positioned himself and chose his moment to bludgeon his way over the line after grabbing the ball from the Exiles’ newest spectator-cum-player, Hugh, who looked like he would not have minded the honours himself.

A tough kick was missed but leading 12-5 with barely more than a minute to go the Exiles had given themselves a small cushion. The referee called the last play; the ball went wide; there were a few fumbles and a Quintin kick. The ball tickled its way towards the touch line by the Exiles’ 22 line. All Fabio had to do was take the ball in hand and kick it off the pitch. However, not sure why, in trying to protect any damage to his recently operated upon knee, this trivial task became something of a nightmare. Exact details slip from the memory, but after some scrambling about involving Fabio and the Quintin right winger (or was it full back?) the ball at last made it off the pitch and the Exiles secured their first win of the season: Exiles undefeated after one match!

Once again, huge thanks go to the new guys and the guest players who helped us get a full team out on the day – everyone showed true Exiles spirit to achieve this victory!

Nick

Quintin II 5		Ealing Exiles 12
Tries:	(1)	Tries:	Jamie, Ash
Cons:		Cons:	Spike
Pens:		Pens:
Drops:		Drops:

REPORT: London Irish Bs 12 – 36 Ealing Evergreens

Friday night after work and instead of Happy Hour in the pub round the corner I’m heading to Gloucester Road to meet Ricky and head down to Sunbury for the annual friendly against London Irish Vets. This is a very popular fixture for Evergreens with so many of the squad having a connection with London Irish and such a strong Irish contingent in the Evergreens and Ealing in general.

Thankfully, the good weather and players commitment mean that we have a strong squad taking the field. The core of the team is the same as lined up the previous Saturday but with some key Vets returning for their season’s debut the team has a buzz about it that looks promising for the league games ahead.

Front row was the old reliable combination of Ash Spencer and Declan Cronin with Kieran Power returning to the coalface. As last week, Bill Miller and Paul Clarke provided the grunt in the second row with Brendan O’Flaherty, Jamie Carlin and Andrew Lee making up a back row which had a good balance of speed around the park with strength in contact. The back line looked particularly tasty: as usual Vittorio “Ricky” Spadavecchia at scrum-half and Jonny Murphy at fly-half could be relied on to give shape to the game. Centres were Dave Steene and Paul Hoban with Eric Murray and Paul Jackson on the wings. Ed Young rounded off the team at full-back. As I’m writing this I find myself praying we can put out a back-line as talented and reliable as that for the rest of the season! The subs bench also had plenty of talent ready to slot in, as they all did in the second half, and squeezing their bums together on the bench were Big Stef Glancy, Adrian Hobbs, Dave Brathwaite, Andrew Gardner, Paul Treacy, Mark Rutherford and Bryn Worth. Yes, it had to be an especially accommodating bench!

The referee was a Corkman and this now meant there were at least three of us on the pitch and would surely lead to an argument over the Treaty or Michael Collins but, luckily, cool heads prevailed.

The game started well for Ealing and we were putting pressure on the Irish 22 when the ball was popped up to Paul Jackson under pressure from the defence. The Acton Express showed that his coaching role at Ealing hadn’t robbed him of his footwork as he stepped and swerved through about five tackles before scoring a lovely individual try.

Ealing dominance was pretty much the story of the first half. The back three were very impressive as a unit as they counter-attacked effectively. Ed Young dealt confidently with a succession of high balls. Dave Steene and Paul Hoban consistently broke the gain line with Jonny Murphy posing his usual threat as well as bringing his centres into the game. Mid way through the half, Jamie Carlin made a great break down the wing and fed Jonny Murphy in support. He was tackled just short of the line but Bill Miller was on hand to pick and drive over to extend the Ealing lead. Some of the Ealing first up tackling was poor and this was allowing Irish to stay in the game and they scored a try in the first half from the Ealing defence rushing up a bit too quickly and allowing themselves to be stepped rather easily. A few words were said about this, mainly by Jonny Murphy, and this bore immediate fruit a few minutes later. Defending our 22, I could hear a quite impressive Hold, Hold, Press being called which clearly distracted the Irish attack. The pass from their fly-half was just a fraction off but it was enough for Dave Steene to shoot in and pluck the ball from the air for an audacious intercept and run 80 metres to score under the posts. A fourth try was added by Jonny Murphy following some strong attacking play by Evergreens.

Some odd decisions regarding binding at the scrums were causing frustration for Ealing but set-pieces were fairly even with perhaps Ealing having the better of it. Andrew Lee was winning a steady supply of lineout ball, albeit of the tapped down variety. Obviously the tactical masterstroke of e-mailing the lineout calls to the team was having the right impact. In fact, it was such a good idea that Damien Bugeja has pinned them up in the window of Budgens by Ealing Broadway station. So now there’s no excuse for not knowing the calls.

The second half saw Ealing tightening up on the tackling and an early score was added to our tally when Eric Murray latched on to a kick ahead and stepped the full back to score a lovely try. Another notable moment in the second half was Dave Brathwaite getting ten minutes bin-time for killing the ball in the red zone. At least that’s what my friend the referee told me when I protested that we hadn’t been warned for persistent offending. Ealing finished the stronger team aided by the fresh legs off the bench. Bryn worth showed up well at both full back and scrum-half. Stef Glancy completed his first half game in 18 months. Paul Treacy and Andy Gardner came on to good effect in the back-line with Mark Rutherford and Adrian Hobbs making more of an impression with every game. The game ended well for Ealing when following a number of clean line-out takes by Paul Clarke in the Irish 22, the pack drove a well-organised maul over the tryline and when the bodies cleared it was Kieran Power who arose triumphantly with the final score. 36 – 12 with Jonny Murphy kicking three conversions, one of which was bizarrely taken from behind the goals because the ball was getting lost in the dark when kicked in the normal fashion.

It was a terrific performance by Evergreens who played some lovely attacking rugby as well as the usual strength in close quarters. The game was played in a great spirit by both sides and the usual Irish hospitality was in evidence in the clubhouse afterwards. Especially encouraging as captain was the effort made by players to make themselves available on a Friday night. Steve Weekes performed the task of logistical manager with the most important job of driving the team bus. Beers and grub in the Irish clubhouse were followed by a few sociables in The Plough in Northfields with a pitstop at The Sun Inn on the way. A very enjoyable night and thanks to all the players for the great effort. I’m sure this is a fixture that will long remain on the Evergreens calendar.

REPORT: Richmond 17 – 32 Ealing Trailfinders 1st XV

Ealing Trailfinders 1st XV recover from a 17-10 half-time deficit to record a 32-17 bonus-point win over Richmond in their opening league game of the season.

Full back Pete Hodgkinson gave Ealing the early advantage, knocking over a penalty as Ealing dominated the opening few minutes.

Despite their overwhelming possession, Ealing conceded a try when Richmond collected a loose ball that came out of the ruck and Luke Cousins collected the ball to score. Matt Hart converted for the home side.

Phil Chesters scored two tries

Richmond’s lead was short lived. Within three minutes, Ealing scored from a well taken scrum move after creating an overlap for Phil Chesters to cross for Ealing’s first try and Hodgkinson added the extras.

The pendulum then swung in Richmond’s favour as the hosts enjoyed a sustained period of pressure. The home forward pack pounded away with a serious of drives and mauls, eventually forcing a penalty that saw second row Ryan Gregory shown a yellow card.

A man short, Ealing could not hold out forever and Joe Brown and Cousins combined to set up a try for Brown that Hart converted for a 14-10 lead.

Hart added a penalty before half time to extend Richmond’s lead as they continued to pressure the 14 men of Ealing.

The second half was all Ealing as Richmond failed to cope with Ealing’s increased pace and tempo.

But the home side held on for almost 20 minutes before conceding the first points of the half after a number of penalty chances went begging for Ealing.

The dam had to break eventually and when the ball went loose as Richmond showed too much adventure in their own 22, Hodgkinson was on hand to run in a simple try, which he converted to level the scores at 17-17.

Richmond hit the self-destruct button again a few minutes later, droppoing the ball inside the Ealing half, which was hacked on and Chesters collected the favourable bounce to scamper 50 meteres to score and Ben Ward added the conversion.

Captain Jay King added the fourth try as they capitalised on further Richmond errors through good Ealing defensive pressure and Ward kicked a penalty to round off the win.

Match Photo Gallery

Also see Jay King’s Captain’s Blog.

Richmond 17		Trailfinders 1st XV 32
Tries:	Cousins, Brown	Tries:	Chesters (2), Hodgkinson, King
Cons:	Hart (2)	Cons:	Hodgkinson (2), Ward
Pens:	Hart	Pens:	Hodgkinson, Ward
Drops:		Drops:

The Social side of Jade life

We all know that life is about balance, and a good social calendar is the perfect way to balance out the tough physical demands of training and games.

In addition to the cheeky pints (or cokes, for you non-drinkers!) shared after games and training, put aside the first Friday of every month for our regular Jades socials. So far these have included pub nights and bowling, with future socials planned including rollerskating…!

Find out more by visiting our team page on Facebook: "Ealing Jades Womens Rugby Team".

How it all began…

Started in 2003 as a social side, the Jades entered into league competition in their very next year of playng. In 2005/6 and 2006/7, the Jades won promotion each year, and by 2007/8 were playing in the National Challenge East 1 division.

These promotions reflected the increasing skill, fitness and committment of the ladies, but also the talented guidance of the team coaches. Jades Chairman Phil Burton, who has been with the team from the start states, “What a group of ladies! Regardless of skill level, the Jades environment brings out the best in the ladies. I’m so proud to have been with the Jades from the start.”

GWR Cricket Club v Ealing Rugby Club

Any Freddie Flintoff’s amongst the senior setup? As part of the GWR Centenary Week, we have been challenged to play them in a Twenty20 match. STOP PRESS – Ealing Rugby Club defied all the odds to win.

Ealing Rugby Club defied all the odds to win their first ever cricket match against a GWR XI made up of regulars from their firsts, seconds and thirds in a week of cricket to celebrate their 100th birthday.

Ealing fielded first in this 20 over a side match with a side comprising of two under 14s players and quite a few Evergreens, and opened with Matt Lowen (Colts) and Danny (Exiles). The wickets started to come however at first change with Freddie Avis (under 17) taking four, Danny one and Will Magie a couple. A GWR middle order collapse reminiscent of England afforded Ealing the chance to end their spell in the field with some “social” bowling from Evergreens trio Dave Steene, Andy Cleary and Nick Lambert who claimed he was bowling leg breaks but given that none of them bounced we will never know! Apart from the Avis long hops, star of the field was Stefan McCabe (Exiles) who volunteered to keep wicket and coped amazingly well with some pretty wild bowling!

Ealing managed to finish GWR off for 123 setting Ealing just over six per over with the light fading fast, rain coming in and the bar very much open.

Ealing openers Will Magie and skipper Andy Cleary rose to the challenge with a first wicket stand of 70 with Magie hitting a swashbuckling 46 during which he was dropped twice before being bowled. Cleary hit 26 before being given out stumped in a controversial umpiring decision where he had run so many singles there is no way he could have left his crease!

The remainder of the runs were knocked off by master swordsman Paul Lowen (Evergreens), his son Matt who was our best all rounder on the day, and Stefan McCabe who came in the hit the winner with a few overs to spare.

Bad Prawns

Skip,

There is a matter that I’d like you to take up with the caterers from The Pilot. During last night’s celebrations I was taken rather queer and I conclude that this queerness was the result of eating bad prawns during the end of season team banquet. I am rather unsure of the events that followed as one consequence of eating the bad prawns is an almost total loss of memory. I do recall travelling home in a taxi but have no recollection of how I ordered this. Unfortunately the bad prawns also disabled my geospatial senses as I inadvertently directed the cab driver to take me to High Wycombe. I did eventually realise what was happening and tried to explain to the driver that we were going in the wrong direction. Once again the bad prawns had their effect as I was rendered incoherent as my brain had become disengaged from my mouth.

As my cab meandered through the shires of Bucks and Herts the third effect of the bad prawns became apparent: incontinence. Given the interminable length of the journey this happened not once but twice. Fortunately I was wearing my moleskin trousers. These are not only rather stylish but are also made of extremely absorbent material so my indiscretions were not noticed by the driver. When I eventually arrived home the bad prawns struck again as I was also incapable of performing my conjugal duties. The detail of this is just too painful to retell and certainly I cannot even begin to put this into print.

This morning as I recovered the few remaining and sodden banknotes from the moleskin trousers I also had to suffer the indignity of having to explain to my rather dim Hungarian au pair why I had pegged the damp banknotes to the clothes rail.

All in all I am not happy. Please take up this matter with The Pilot and explain that I am seeking compensation for the cleaning bill for the moleskin trousers, the £50 extra that I was charged for the taxi ride, and consideration for the damage to my ego due to the conjugal calamity.

PS. I don’t suppose anyone noticed what happened to my trophy?

Pathway

Ealing RFC believes that coach development is of paramount importance if we are to continue to deliver coaching that is safe, effective and of a high quality.

A ‘Coaching Pathway’ has been launched within which internal Ealing modules are interwoven with sessions provided by the RFU and by Middlesex County. The RFU courses (with the accompanying RFU-accredited awards) remain the principle ‘yard-stick’ for aspiring coaches whilst the Ealing Pathway is intended to ‘fill the skill gaps’ in terms of developing our coaches abilities and skills.

An internal ‘award scheme’ has been put in place which is intended to be motivational, to gain commitment from Ealing volunteers and importantly to allow us to both measure the progress of individuals and to identify skills-gaps in particular age groups. The Pathway consists of a series of levels, akin to Judo or six-sigma ‘belts’, with each level comprising a number of coaching modules, (and Refereeing / Child Protection modules). Once a coach has completed two thirds of a particular level they receive a physical ‘badge’ to recognise their achievement and commitment.

Coaches may enter or leave the programme at any level and may attend any of the sessions irrespective of their experience. A summary of the Pathway together with the latest provisional timetable for modules is available here. icon Ealing Coaching Pathway

If you have any questions concerning the Pathway, suggestions for additional modules or know someone who might be willing to deliver one of the sessions then please contact Nick Lambert (nick@the-lambert-family.co.uk)