Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Ealing Trailfinders Academy 47 – 17 British Army Academy

Perfect weather conditions and the excellent pitch condition at Vallis Way set the tone for what was to be a fantastic day for the Academy on Sunday.

Having prepared well all week the feeling within the squad was one of excitement and anticipation at what was sure to be a stern test of our mettle.

The first half was an even affair, while the Academy had dominance in the scrum, the Army’s line out and work from the base of their own scrum was excellent.

There were some good performances from scrum half Conor Segre and hooker Chris Joyce who consistently made ground with the ball in hand. Josh Amadi also impressed going forward. Two tries for winger Ire Onabajo caught the eye of the supporters and coaches alike.

In the second half, James Booth got over for a pair of tries, but No8 Ben Keen was the stand out performer, abrasive in attack and defence. He worked very effectively in the back row with Will Day and Oscar Avis.

Academy Director John Lacey said “We are really pleased with todays performance, we have worked hard on some small areas of our game. Our depth in attack has been way too shallow at times and we have drifted across the face of the defence instead of challenging it, today we were far more incisive.

We gave far too many penalties away at the breakdown against Ruislip, our work over the ball didn’t lack enthusiasm but was ill judged. We saw far better decisions in this area today.

We were really happy how the squad coped physically, we are fit and strong and really enjoyed ourselves today against an Army side that had real threats across the park”.

Our next game is against the Royal Navy at Merchant Taylor’s School on Sunday 30th September at 14:30

Ealing Trailfinders Academy

Steadman l, Amadi, Rugeley, Steadman J, Onabajo, Poynter, Segre, Keen, Day, Avis, Accelam, Wake, Nash, Joyce, Collins

Replacements

Parry, Robbins, Sadiq, Wilson, Turton, Hogan, Slater, Agu-Benson, Godfrey, Booth

Scorers

Tries – Onabajo 2, Booth 2, Steadman J, Avis, Nash

Cons – Poynter 4, Slater 2

Ealing Trailfinders Academy are proud to announce that following consultation and an anonymous voting process with our U18 squad, we will be adopting the RFU request that all players in a match day squad play at least half a game.

The initiative is designed to get more game time for all players and improve retention rates into senior rugby. Studies in New Zealand and Wales have delivered an increase in the rates of young players transitioning into the adult game.

Academy Director John Lacey said “I’m over the moon that following explanations of the “WHY” behind the Half Game initiative and discussions with the squad, the boys have decided to go with the proposal.

We all felt it was important that the boys had the final say on the decision, but are really proud of them for making such an inclusive move.

Our Academy is really representative of our community in Ealing, we cater for all levels of young rugby player, from every educational background. We have first timers and those looking to move through our programme onto performance rugby environments. We want all our players, regardless of ability to feel valued members of the squad and club

We can continue to offer fantastic opportunities for even the most ambitious player with our U19/20 programme as well as our U16 and U18 Emerging Player Group. Fixtures against London Irish, Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints and Nottingham Academy sides and also England Counties U18 provide a huge challenges.

The half game rule will we hope, allow a love of the game to develop and thrive for all the lads in the Academy at Ealing”.

The Academy has named its team to face the British Army at Vallis Way on Sunday.

There proved to be many tough decisions involved and there will be some disappointed lads in the wider squad who missed out.

Conor Segre makes his return to the starting side after a summer of 7s with the Jamaican national squad. Ben Keen makes his Academy debut at No8 having imoressed in training. He will be well looked after in the back row by Will Day and Oscar Avis.

Academy Director, John Lacey spoke earlier about selection “I think it’s been the hardest selection meeting we’ve ever had. There are some exciting lads involved this season and I’m sure some will be hurting tonight.

We’ve worked really hard over the summer and cant wait to get back on the pitch, the Ruislip game seems like an age ago.

The boys should be under no illusions about Sunday, the Army will be very good and wont lay down or run out of steam. They had a good win last week against Hampshire which should ring some alarm bells for us. We’ve got to be on the ball from the first kick”.

Academy skipper Lewis Steadman added “After a disappointing loss against the Army Reds last year we’re eager to put things right. We want to start the season on the right note and build some momentum. We play the Royal Navy in 2 weeks so September feels special.

We have some exciting new faces who have brought some real energy to the squad. We also have a good mix of age groups involved so theres some youth and experience around. It’ll be a tough test, but we cant wait for Sunday to come around and get the season going”.

Kick off at Trailfinders Sorts Club is at 2:30pm and the boy’s would love to hear you cheer them on from the touchline.

The Academy have begun their preparations to face the British Army at Vallis Way on Sunday.

It will be a special week in training as the players look to impress the coaches ahead of selection. This is always an exciting fixture in the calendar.

Academy Director, John Lacey said “This is always a special week for us. We are really honoured to play against the Service’s representative sides and the boys really look forward to the tough fixtures.

We have had a good summer of training and the new players have settled in well now. Last weeks cancellation was a little disruptive but it has given us a bit more time to sharpen up. The squad trained alone last night, without the coaching team. Its important thee lads take charge of the game and we were happy to let them work out how they want to play on Sunday.

We are very lucky to be able to work with the National Film and TV School again this year. They will practice a full Outside Broadcast recording of the game. The footage of last year was outstanding and we’d like to thank them in advance for their efforts this time around.”

Kick off on Sunday is at 14:30, why not come down and get behind the lads in what will be a great game.

Unfortunately due to circumstances outside our control, Sunday’s game against the Royal Air Force Development XV has been called off.

Hits a huge disappointment for the boys, but focus now turns to our next game against tge British Army on Sunday 16th Sept at Vallis Way.

Look out for more news across all our Social Media platforms.

The Academy are very excited to announce that we have further improved our fixture list for this season by adding London Irish AASE to our playing programme.

Academy Director John Lacey said “We are really fortunate to have reached agreement with London Irish to play a couple of fixtures against their AASE group in the new year. We are constantly looking to improve our offering to our more ambitious players and this is an excellent addition to our diary.

We’re already have games against England Counties U18 and Leicester Tigers AASE in 2019 and now London Irish are added to that. We are very grateful to Richard Pryor at for making this possible.”

We are confident this won’t be the last high quality fixture that we add to the list. So keep an eye on here for dates and news of more exciting developments.

The Academy U20 Squad face the RAF Development XV at Merchant Taylors School on Sunday 9th September at 14:30.

The venue has moved to accommodate the London Broncos play off game.

The game will be a tough test of our younger players who will face U23 opposition.

Academy Coach Tom Gamage said “ The boys did really well against Ruislip RFC, and we were predominantly U20 that night so we’ve dialled up the challenge for the team.

It also gives the players a chance to develop their leadership skills further. Without the older members of the squad around, we’re looking to see who steps up.

We will have a few areas of focus, reducing our penalty count, decision making at the tackle and when to kick will be at the forefront of our work this week.

We’ll still be expecting the creativity and flair we saw against Ruislip though!!”

Please try to find time to come along and support the team. Keep an eye here and on out Twitter and Instagram feeds.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of our control, Sunday’s Academy Scholars game against Richmond has been cancelled.

We will look to rearrange the fixture for later in the year. Our next game will be at Christmas, so keep your eyes peeled for more info.

SONY DSC

Ealing Trailfinders Academy 36 – 19 Ruislip RFC

Friday night under lights always feel a little bit special and it was an excited Academy side that arrived at Vallis Way for their first game of the new season.

11 players were making their Ealing Trailfinders debuts with a further 3 Academy U18 players stepping up. It was always going to be a big test against an established London 1 North side (Level 6). Although, with a good preseason programme under our belt, there was a real buzz that continued from Thursday’s training into tonights game.

The first two quarters were scrappy affairs, far too many unforced errors gifted possession back to Ruislip. Low level penalties were also a recurring feature throughout the game.

Decisions at the breakdown weren’t good, we conceded all our points from this area. We will have to work hard on this area over the coming weeks.

We did however, look very sharp in attack. Our footwork is very good and there is real pace in the group. Utilising this, combined with some accuracy in contact will make us a dangerous proposition.

With so many players involved its difficult to pick out individuals but there has to be some recognition of good performance. Here goes…

Haseen Hashim played with intent all night and a touch of brilliance to chip over, recover his kick and off load for Joyce’s score was sublime.

Zack Godfrey played with vision, adjusted his errors and his break through a gap, acceleration and perfectly timed pass put Onabajo in for 5 points.

As well as his try Ire Onabajo was excellent all night, great comms and work rate have answered a lot of questions. certainly one to watch (and hear) this year…

Harrison Slater took to an experiment at 9 like a duck to water, errors in the second Quarter were ironed by the third, getting mentions from the spectators show the quality of his performance.

Luke Parry, Tom Agu-Benson and Chimi Chukwidire also impressed on Senior Academy and Ealing Trailfinders debuts.

Altogether and encouraging night, today our loan players will be in action with our partner clubs

At National League 2 South, Marcus Lowe travels with Henley to Cardiff Met Uni. Josh Brown and Arby Keheli face a real test at newly promoted Chinnor.

At London Premier, Conor Segre played with Bracknell against Civil Service last night. Ben Hogan will start for Tring against Maidenhead today. Michael Rugeley and Matt Hodson travel with Hertford to face Bury St Edmonds.

Looking forward we face the Royal Air Force Development XV on Sunday 9th September. The game will be played at Merchant Taylors School, Sandy Lodge, Northwood, HA6 2HT