“We used about 40 players across the pre-season games against Preston and Clifton and it’s pleasing how things are shaping up. “The squad looks strong across all positions and we’re pretty much injury free, but we’ll get more of a marker of where we are when we play Ealing. As a full-time Championship side, we’re expecting that to be a very tough test. ” “The new players have settled in well during pre-season, especially as many of them have prior experience of Hartpury! ” Performances are always more important than results in these fixtures, but a winning outcome at Vallis Way would represent real progress for the Red & Blacks who have yet to register a victory against Ealing in any of the recent encounters.
” Ben Ward, managing director of Ealing Trailfinders revealed what a great year it has been for the club. “This is a landmark moment in our club history and one that we’re extremely proud of. This season our objectives have been clear. Promotion to the Men’s Premiership, BUCS Super Rugby for our Men’s Academy at Brunel University and the formation of a Women’s Premier 15s squad. To achieve one of these objectives just before Christmas, and be on track with the other two, is a huge testament to the investment and hard work of everyone involved in this process. I would like to thank the entire team at Ealing Trailfinders for their hard work during the application, with a huge thanks to the considerable investment and long-term support of club owner Sir Mike Gooley.
Ealing, like Hartpury, have enjoyed a rapid rise in recent seasons. Always a strong club in West London rugby with a good membership, things really started to happen for them as a more progressive entity around six or seven years ago. They took two seasons to move through National League 2 and a further two to reach the summit of National 1 in 2013, having finished as runners-up to Jersey at their first attempt. The initial foray into the Championship ended in immediate relegation, but another productive League 1 campaign in 2014-15 was followed by a more successful defence of their elevated status and they finished last season eleven points clear of relegated Moseley and just one point adrift of 10th-placed Rotherham Titans. Former Hartpury students and RFC players James Gibbons (prop) and Harry Casson (lock/back row) have signed for Ealing in the current season and might be expected to play some part at the weekend, as Trailfinders build up to their opening Championship fixture at Yorkshire Carnegie a week later.
Rugby Union: Ealing - Flashscore.co.uk
THIS SATURDAY: EALING TRAILFINDERS VS RICHMOND
” Simon Sinclair, chief operating officer of Ealing Trailfinders Academy and Women’s Programme, added: “This has been a huge effort and an enormous achievement from everyone involved at the club. Over the last few years we have invested heavily in building sustainable development pathways from the bottom up. We have partnered with several PODs (Places of Development), clubs and schools with thriving girl’s and women’s programmes, and created pathways for their talent to progress to elite rugby. Having a clear and extensive pathway from school and club rugby to Premier 15s at Ealing Trailfinders will provide players with enormous opportunities.
Ealing Trailfinders (@ealingtfrugby) / Twitter
Following an application to the Rugby Football Union, Ealing Trailfinders Women will compete from the 2023/24 season and will join an eight team league featuring Bristol Bears Women, Exeter Chiefs Women, Gloucester-Hartpury Women, Harlequins Women, Leicester Tigers Women, Loughborough Lightning/Northampton Saints and Saracens Women. Ealing Trailfinders Women will be based at Trailfinders Sports Club, with its world class facilities, coaches and support staff, with home fixtures taking place on the main stadium pitch, with a current capacity of 5, 000.
Director of women’s rugby Giselle Mather, who joined the club in July 2022, said: “This is a very special day for everyone involved with Ealing Trailfinders. It’s one of those moments that will be highlighted in our history for years to come. ” Ms Mather added: “We are incredibly proud to have been successful and delighted to have the opportunity to bring elite female athletes, coaches and support staff to Ealing Trailfinders. The programme will not only benefit the 45 players selected in our Premier 15s squad, but will have a hugely positive impact on the growth and development of women’s rugby at all levels.
Hartpury face final pre-season examination at Ealing TrailfindersIn what appears to be becoming something of a tradition, Hartpury face Ealing Trailfinders this Saturday in a final warm-up fixture for the forthcoming National League 1 season. We have played Ealing in three of the previous four pre-seasons, the exception being ahead of the 2014-15 campaign when both teams were in the same division. Trailfinders are a Championship side with a largely professional playing staff, which means that we can expect a real step up in the quality of our pre-season opposition, which is in no way being disrespectful to Preston Grasshoppers and Clifton, our previous two opponents.
Hartpury College lecturer and prop forward, Tim Brockett, will be making a return to a club that he represented for three seasons before coming to us in 2014. Hartpury, apart from a slightly scruffy second half against Clifton, have performed well in warm-up matches and in training, with our Director of Rugby, John Barnes, declaring himself happy with progress to date.
Ealing Trailfinders successful application for women's first-team squad and will be joining Allianz Premier 15s - EALING. NEWS - The Voice of Ealing 7 towns - Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale, Southall. The borough’s very own rugby club, Ealing Trailfinders is to have its own women’s team which will be competing in the Allianz Premier 15s next year.
Twelvetrees and Reid set to sign for Ealing - The Rugby Paper