Features - Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club

Conor Oliver on leadership and loving golf

Conor Oliver discusses his recent leadership roles at Trailfinders, how rugby has evolved for the forwards, and loving golf

Irish flanker Conor Oliver returns to the squad ahead of Round Four of the Champ. He has previously featured in Rounds One and Two for Ealing Trailfinders and got over the try line on both occasions. He will captain Trailfinders against Coventry this weekend.

Prior to playing in the Champ, Oliver played in the United Rugby Championship. He commented on the change of leagues.

“It’s been a really good start to the season. I was used to URC rugby for a long time but it’s quite similar coming here.

“I think the standard is really high as well as the standard of the team we have here as well. I think that our quality has shown with the number of points that we’ve scored this season. We’ve scored nearly 150 points across three games – it’s not bad going.”

Oliver scored on debut against Bedford at Goldington Road. The following week on home soil, he scored in eight seconds from kick-off against Chinnor.

“We have a chat before kick-off,” he said. “We have our attack plans and know where to target an opposition’s weakness.

“Scoring on debut makes us look good. We’ve seen that with Deago and Patrick scoring on their debuts.

“A lot of these things are pre-planned but sometimes it’s just being in the right place. Tobi Wilson tapped the ball back to me after the kick-off from Chinnor and the gap was there.

“Against Bedford, I think we still left a lot of points out on the field and we let in a few soft tries. But we were delighted with a first round win. We want to put convincing performances out on the pitch.

“The attack at the Club is what really excites me.”

Oliver’s try against Chinnor is up there with one of the quickest scored in the league’s history. His football background from playing as a teenager has meant that the chip and chase that was on display in that eight second try was a characteristic that had always been part of his game.

“I think from playing Gaelic football and football back home, as many Irish guys do, the coordination is there from a young age.

“Rugby was probably the last sport I picked up when I was growing up.

“I was brought up playing football mostly because my family are really into it. I eventually came into rugby after doing Gaelic football and hurling.”

Whilst Oliver plays at flanker, he hadn’t always been in the forward pack.

“I used to play in the backs. I played centre and stuff until I was probably about 15, 16. That’s maybe why I fancy myself with a kick chase.

“I think many players find themselves starting in the back line and eventually move to the forwards, or are pushed into playing front or second row. But that hasn’t happened to me yet.”

Across international and club rugby, flankers are playing a more hybrid role across the field. Oliver commented on how he feels rugby has developed and changed in recent years.

“I think the game has evolved a lot. Players aren’t fenced in to one position anymore. You can see that with second rows coming into the back row, and back rows moving into centres if they need to.

“We’ve done some training with the backs and some of that has included being on the wing. That’s only occasionally but it’s good preparation in case we get yellow cards in a match. It’s good to have it in the locker.

“I do feel like it’s a completely different sport to play on the wing. I not going to say I’d never like to play there – it might save the pressure on my shoulders a bit.”

Having led Trailfinders in two rounds of the Champ, leadership is something that Oliver has come to enjoy.

“I’ve probably grown into the leadership role. I was at Connacht for five years and I learnt off many of the players there.

“I’ve learnt to lead by example rather than talk too much.

“Moving to Trailfinders, the leadership quality is something the Club have emphasised that they’ve wanted from me as a player and person. I didn’t want to come in talking too much but the longer I’ve been here, the more I feel that I can voice certain things.

“I said I’d give the leadership thing a crack, whatever position I hold. Hopefully we can translate our recent successes to this weekend against Coventry.”

Outside of rugby, Oliver joins many of the Trailfinders players as a keen golfer. Whilst this is no surprise given the beautiful courses his homeland of Ireland boasts, Oliver stressed that golf has been a good way for many of the players to bond outside of rugby.

“There are some great courses in Ireland, but the only thing to let us down is the weather can be quite tough. Make sure you go in the summertime for a golf holiday.

“Golf has definitely been an area where I’ve been able to bond with the lads, do stuff outside of rugby and not talk about rugby.

“A few of the boys are members of the West Middlesex golf club around the corner from Trailfinders Sports Club so we try to play at least once a week.

“I’d say that I’m a keen golfer but not necessarily a good one. But the mentality of the sport is something that really interests me.

“I enjoyed watching the Ryder Cup. I won’t say that Rory McIlroy is my favourite player as that’s an obvious favourite. After watching the Ryder Cup, I’d say that Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka are my favourites at the moment.

“Both golf and boxing are sports that I enjoy. They have a top tier kind of mentality. I like to see how individual sports deal with stressful situations. I especially think it’s amazing in boxing given it’s a combat sport.”

Beyond the wealth of sport Oliver enjoys both personally and professionally, he is a dog dad to a seven-year-old Bulldog.

“He’s quite old for a Bulldog. Me and my girlfriend were worried that he wasn’t going to deal with the travel from Ireland to England well when we drove a van here and came on the ferry. But he slept for most of the journey.

“He’s just happy to be around us and go wherever we go.”

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Patrick Campbell discusses how Gaelic football shaped his rugby

Irish fullback Patrick Campbell discusses his club debut this weekend, how Gaelic football shaped his rugby, and reading Stephen King novels

After signing for Trailfinders ahead of the 2025/26 season, Patrick Campbell will make his Club debut against Richmond in Round Three of the Champ.

Campbell played in two out of three pre-season fixtures for Trailfinders but makes the starting XV ahead of the Friday Night Lights fixture at Richmond Athletic Ground.

“I’m really excited,” Campbell said ahead of Round Three. “I really enjoyed playing in the pre-season games, but I’m looking forward to getting my first competitive start.”

Trailfinders have won two games from two in the Champ this season. Richmond are the newly promoted side for 2025/26 and have started their campaign with one win and one loss.

“I think it’s going to be a physical match,” Campbell said.

“It’s our local match with both of us being based in West London. I think they’re going to come out the gates and they will want to cause a bit of an upset.

“Because they’re only thirty minutes or so down the road from us, a few of the lads might know each other and that always adds another element to these sorts of matches.”

Whilst Campbell has played rugby since he was a teenager, it wasn’t the only sport he was involved in. Popular sports in Ireland such as hurling and Gaelic football both caught Campbell’s interest when he was growing up.

“I came from a really big Gaelic football family, so early on in my life I did football.

“I started playing rugby when I was around thirteen when I was at school. At around seventeen, I had to decide between the two sports. But Gaelic football isn’t professional whereas rugby was. I realised that you only got one opportunity at professional sport so I chose rugby.

“Rugby is massive in Ireland and my family had always been huge Munster fans. I also went to a lot of their games.”

Although Campbell has cemented himself as a fullback, that was not the position he started out in when he first picked up a rugby ball.

“I actually started out in the forwards. When I was at school, I played hooker and then moved to eight. Then I realised I wasn’t going to grow as big as some of the back rows here. So I decided to move to the back line.

“Gaelic football certainly helps with skills required to be a fullback. There are a lot of similar traits that come in from catching high balls, to just general hand-eye coordination. There’s a lot of crossover.

“I coach with the U18s here at the Club and I know a few of them play Gaelic football. They always say the hand-eye coordination really helps. I would encourage people to give it a go as a sport.”

Having lived the majority of his life in Ireland, this is Campbell’s first time living in London.

“I’m really enjoying,” he said. “It’s really easy to settle in here.

“On my first day, I met up with Michael Stronge and we went to a local cafe. We were sat outside, drinking our coffee and there were two people next to us and I was like, are they Irish? And they were.”

Both at the club and beyond, there’s a large Irish contingent. Whilst some people are partial to a certain brand of Irish stout, Campbell prefers the Cork brand over the Dublin one.

“I’m more of a Murphy’s man than a Guinness. But Murphy’s is quite difficult to find over here on tap.”

Often with sportspeople, the arts and humanities don’t always go hand in hand. However, with Ealing being one of the beating hearts of arts and culture in West London, there are several players at Trailfinders who are interested in humanities or artistic subjects. Campbell is one of them having studied History and English at university.

“I’ve always enjoyed writing,” he said. “I enjoy it and I’ve always been pretty good at it. My mum’s an English teacher so she was always pushing me to read when I was younger.

“I originally started out doing law at university but I couldn’t get into it. So I decided to do something that I was actually interested in.

“I really like early American history and Irish history, particularly in the 20th Century. You can never cover everything in history so you just break it down in terms of certain periods and locations, even though you don’t say that you study a period of history, you just say you study history.”

In terms of fiction, Campbell enjoys the cinematic writing style of Stephen King.

“I’m currently reading King’s 11/22/63 which is about John F. Kennedy’s assassination. His writing is a form of science fiction. That type of vivid writing is often what makes good cinema because it’s not difficult for a screenwriter to imagine what it would look like when the writing is so scenic.”

Perhaps one day Campbell might pen his own novel. But for now, he looks forward to his Club debut against Richmond.

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Jordy Reid on pre-season learnings, fatherhood, and being named Vice Captain

Jordy Reid discusses pre-season learnings, his new leadership role, and the final pre-season fixture against Hartpury this Friday.

Reid makes his 2025/26 season debut after being called up to start in the back row against Hartpury in the Club’s final pre-season fixture. This will be his first run out after being named Ealing Trailfinders Vice Club Captain.

“It’s my first hit out. So it’d be good to get the ball rolling,” Reid said.

Ealing Trailfinders have played two previous pre-season fixtures against Chinnor and Edinburgh, both of which were played away.

“As a Club, we started our pre-season with a match against Chinnor. Whilst we got the win and played well in parts, we got a few good learnings out of it as well.

“Last week against Edinburgh was a pretty good step forward against what was a strong Edinburgh pack. I think there ended up being seven Scottish internationals in that side.

“I think the physicality was a big step up and probably a good marker to lay down for the start of the season as to where we want our defence to be.”

Reid believes that the most recent fixture against the Scottish side provided a good base line for the players.

“I thought it was a good measuring stick for the rest of the year to sort of base ourselves off. They had three tries just off turnover, which was probably a little bit disappointing, but it was the second game and we had a few new guys in our squad for the season.”

Edinburgh Rugby vs Ealing Trailfinders at Hive Stadium 19 September 2025

“This week in Hartpury, we want to take another step forward and try to put it altogether before we go into the Champ season. We want to get our attack flowing and to convert that into points when we get into the 22.

“Last week, we had a few entries into the 22 but just didn’t come away with as many points as we wanted. I think we just need a little bit more patience.

“If we can put everything we’ve been practicing into play this week and get that same energy and physicality as we did last week, it will be a good step forward towards Bedford because they’re going to be a tricky first game.”

Over the summer Ealing Trailfinders have had several new signings including Rory Scannell, Kyle Hatherell, Connor Oliver, and Deago Bailey.

Reid praised the new players for their contribution to the wider squad since their arrival at Vallis Way.

“Overall, I think they’ve brought great vision,” Reid said.

“They have been really good around the locker room as well, and had a good voice in meetings. Some of these guys, they’re quite experienced players. Connor, Kyle, Deago and Josh Caulfield have got quite a bit of experience. Their voices are pretty respected around the meetings. I think they’ve had some good input and there are lots of guys to learn off them as well.”

New and old faces during pre-season training

Alongside Club Captain Angus Kernohan, Reid has been named within the leadership team as the Club’s Vice Captain alongside Mike Willemse. This is Reid’s first time in such a role.

“I’m excited. It’s something pretty new to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been a vice captain or captain. I’ve been in a leadership group maybe a handful of times, but never too much. So it’s also something I’ve got to practice and take a few learnings and just be confident in keeping people accountable, but also praising people when we’re doing well and trying to lead as best I can, along with Angus and Mike.

“As a Club, we have several players who are quite experienced and are well respected and just naturally lead as well. So I don’t think it’s just going to be stuck to just the three of us to lead the group. I think there are guys throughout the team that have pretty good leadership qualities that the guys generally follow anyway.”

At 33-years-old, Reid has ambitions for himself and the wider group ahead of the revised Champ Rugby competition for 2025/26.

“I just want to be myself when I lead and try to play as much rugby as I can. And to keep my body healthy. At least that way I make myself available for the fixtures. I feel like I managed that well last year. Keeping injury-free is a big priority and if I can do that, I can find form again with the goal of playing as many minutes as possible.

“Collectively as a team, the goal is to win three Champs on the trot. That would be pretty cool if we could do that. That’s the big picture.

“But the new format this year with the knock-outs at the end of the season is quite exciting. It will bring different pressures throughout the season.

“For now, the wider group has a narrower focus. The leadership group has had conversations about the wider season but right now it’s about finding form ahead of round one.”

With the array of new signings from this summer, combined with familiar faces who know what it takes to win the Champ in the squad, Reid complimented the Club’s depth of talent.

“We’re pretty lucky with the squad depth we have. We obviously want to win every game, but we can have the confidence with our squad to give blokes a rest when needed, and try to keep people fresh. To keep the squad fresh as best we can, so that we’re firing towards the finals because you want to win a lot, but it’s also about how we come into finals.

“We want to be playing our best footy at the end of the season. You don’t want to be struggling to find form or struggling with injuries too much. We want to be in a strong position for knock-out rugby. Staying fit and fresh is a big part of that.”

Off the pitch, Reid is father to two young children. He commented how spending time with his family outside of rugby is just as important as the family at Trailfinders.

“Being a parent presents different challenges. I’d say that 90% of the time it’s great fun.

“I guess it’s just nice when you get home after you’re playing games and whatnot, my children don’t care if you’ve had a bad game, a good game, or whatever. They just want to hang out with you and have fun, which is always quite nice. It’s a good way to not dwell too much and stuff, and just get your mind off the rugby a little bit. Spending time with my children is a mental refresher.”

Reid commented on how family life has made him become a more organised individual.

“I am definitely a lot more organised now. I plan a lot more. Before having children, it was just me and my partner. We could be pretty spontaneous and do stuff off the cuff, whereas now our weeks are pretty regimented. But we have found a bit of a routine that works well and having a nursery on site is also ideal.

“Now I really enjoy doing things with the kids that I wouldn’t have thought I would have liked before. We go watch planes at Heathrow; go stand on bridges where trains come past; we walk around the back yard and find snails. I think last year, when my son had never seen snails before he got so excited. He was trying to grasp the difference between slugs and snails. I guess for them, it’s an animal they had never seen before.”

Jordy and his family at the trophy presentation for winning the 2024/25 Championship

Whilst Jordy’s son is exposing his dad to the fascination of the blend of industrial infrastructure and the natural world available to them in West London, his family are already kitted out and excited to support him on the sidelines.

This season, supporters will be able to purchase match replica shirts with names printed on the back of them. Of course, the Reid family are already covered with their own stash.

“We’ve already got the shirts sorted. They come onto the pitch after our home games and run around.

“There are a couple of other players’ children who do the same, so it’s nice.

“We sort of chuck the ball around and I think my son quite likes the idea of rugby. He probably needs to work on his tackling. He’s not the best at that. I suppose I started playing rugby because my dad liked it. Perhaps it might be the same with my son.”