Ealing Trailfinders vs Richmond

Match Report

Ealing Trailfinders got the 2017/18 British and Irish Cup off to the perfect start with a dominant 67-12 win over Richmond at Vallis Way.

Ben Ward’s side scored eleven tries and showed their attacking quality to begin the competition with a bonus-point win.

Four players crossed for two tries each, with a strong team effort giving the home crowd plenty of reason to celebrate.

It took just two minutes to break the deadlock with James Cordy Redden racing clear after a neat offload from Arthur Ellis, and it was the flanker who was next to score from close range after a number of phases near the try-line.

Luke Daniels crossed for a brace before half time to mark his first appearance of the season with two tries. The full-back showed great feet to beat the last defender for his first, before the ball was spun wide and he acrobatically dived in the corner to dot down impressively.

Storm man-of-the-match Will Harries also went over before the break with a long-range effort after a brilliant backs move to give the hosts a 29-0 lead at half-time.

Cordy Redden started the second half in the same fashion as the first half with a try after just three minutes. Harries made a break on the outside, and the ball was then recycled and the winger was on hand to run in unattended.

Harries then also got his second to put the West Londoners 39-0 up. Another backs move from the base of a scrum ended up in the Welshman’s hands, and he had enough pace to step the defender and score.

Richmond responded with a well-worked try of their own to get on the scoreboard through Luke Outhwaite, but Ealing scored two in quick succession to continue their dominance.

The first came from Lewis Jones straight from the re-start, with Lewis Robling gathering the ball and then passing to his centre parter who ran through to score.

Robling went over just two minutes later for try number nine of the afternoon. Debutant Shane O’Leary took the ball to the defence and then offloaded for Robling to stroll under the posts.

Richmond got their second with Ben Rath having the pace to run clear after a chip over the top from James Swan which cut the deficit to 53-12 on the hour mark.

There was still time for Alun Walker to come on and cross the line for two tries to round off the scoring.

The Scottish hooker continued his try-scoring form with two close range scores after a number of phases near the line, and O’Leary converted both to make the final score 67-12 before next weekend’s trip to Connacht in Round Two.

Ealing Trailfinders:

15 Luke Daniels 14 James Cordy-Redden 13 Lewis Jones 12 Lewis Robling 11 Will Harries 10 Aaron Penberthy (replaced by Shane O’Leary) 9 Grayson Hart (replaced by Calum Waters) 1 James Gibbons (replaced by Alex Lundberg) 2 Matt Cornish (replaced by Alun Walker) 3 Sam Rodman (replaced by Lewis Thiede) 4 Harry Casson (c) 5 Oli Curry 6 Rayn Smid 7 Arthur Ellis 8 Willie Ryan (replaced by Llewelyn Jones)

Replacements:

16 Alun Walker 17 Alex Lundberg 18 Lewis Thiede 19 Llewelyn Jones 20 Calum Waters 21 Shane O’Leary 22 Piers O’Conor

Scorers:

Tries: James Cordy Redden (2, 43 minutes) Arthur Ellis (8 minutes) Luke Daniels (29, 36 minutes) Will Harries (32, 46 minutes) Lewis Jones (55 minutes) Lewis Robling (58 minutes) Alun Walker (75, 80 minutes)

Conversions: Aaron Penberthy (8, 36 minutes) Shane O’Leary (55, 58, 75, 80 minutes)

Richmond:

15 Ali Chisholm 14 Ben Rath 13 Cameron Hudson 12 Rhys Owen 11 Luke Outhwaite 10 James Swan 9 Callum Grant 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke 2 Jamie Townsend 3 Joe Tarrant 4 Adam Lee 5 Max Crawford 6 Lorcan Dow 7 Tom Sargeant (c) 8 Harry Edwards

Replacements:

16 Richard Townsend 17 Gary Hamilton 18 Harry Innis 19 Lucien Maman 20 Chris Reakes 21 Simon Edwards 22 Cameron Holenstein

Scorers:

Tries: Luke Outhwaite (53 minutes) Ben Rath (61 minutes)

Conversions: Alastair Chisholm (61 minutes)

Match Officials:

Referee: Sara Cox

Assistant Referees: Mike Hudson & Simon McConnell

Fourth Official: Jeff Highcock

Half Time Score: Ealing Trailfinders 29 – 0 Richmond

Storm Man of the Match: Will Harries

Attendance: 647