Ealing Trailfinders Season Review
A look back at how Ealing Trailfinders won the 2021/22 Championship season.
As the dust settles on one of the most enthralling Championship seasons to date, Ealing Trailfinders' victory over Richmond last Saturday confirmed their coronation as the champions of English rugby's second-tier for the first time.
Ben Ward's side, captained by the indomitable Rayn Smid, fired an early warning shot to the rest of the league, storming to a 54-20 bonus-point win over Hartpury in their opening match of the season, but then suffered an early set back with a 15-12 defeat against Cornish Pirates at the Mennaye: a ground that would prove to be an undefeated fortress all season. Imbued by the loss, Ealing scored an incredible 337 points in their next five matches, beating Nottingham, Coventry, London Scottish, Bedford Blues, and Jersey Reds. These sweeping victories set the tone for the consistent bonus points that Trailfinders picked up throughout the season, which would eventually prove to be crucial come the end of the campaign.
Ealing's next match took them to Castle Park in late November. Despite the Trailfinders' five-match unbeaten streak, it was clear that the fixture against Doncaster Knights would be one of their most challenging assignments of the season. And so it proved, with Steve Boden's men inflicting Ealing's second loss of the season, keeping the visitors scoreless until the 68th minute when Simon Uzokwe registered his seventh try of the season and the visitors' only score of the game.
Uzokwe would score 16 tries by the end of the season and finish joint-third on the top try-scorers list. The backrower, who joined Ealing from Newcastle Falcons ahead of the 2020/21 season, put in another impressive shift this year and has undoubtedly become one of the club's most prized assets. Craig Willis is another former Newcastle player who registered high on the scoring charts this season. The fly-half scored 143 points over 19 appearances, keeping the scoreboard ticking over in almost every game he played and marshalling his backline impressively throughout the campaign.
Just like after their loss to Cornish Pirates, Ealing returned to action with a point to prove, once again winning their next five matches, each with a bonus point. Then came one of the most surprising results of The Championship season, when Bedford Blues travelled to West London. While few Championship aficionados would ever write off the Blues' chances of victory, regardless of the opposition, not many were expecting the underdogs to deliver the performance they did, especially after Ealing scored 50 points in the corresponding fixture at Goldington Road earlier in the season. Mike Rayer's charges went on to stun the eventual Champions in their own backyard with three second-half tries, turning a closely fought encounter into a 12-point win.
The following week, an away win over Jersey Reds gave Ealing a chance to regain some lost momentum, but like Bedford before them, Doncaster Knights upset Ealing at home, delivering their second home loss in just as many weeks. The game hung in the balance until the final moments when an intercept try from Billy McBryde saw the fullback race from his own 22 all the way to the try line, further jeopardising Ealing's title hopes.
Despite setbacks against Bedford Blues and Doncaster Knights, Ealing went into the final straight of the season in second place with matches in hand over their rivals.
After victories over London Scottish and Ampthill, Ealing would be reunited with one of their fiercest title rivals, Cornish Pirates, in what would prove to be a pivotal fixture in terms of deciding the eventual league champions.
Ealing's players were clearly aware of the need to secure maximum points from the fixture, and they duly delivered. Within 32 minutes, the hosts scored 31 unanswered points, securing the bonus point en route to an impressive victory and effectively eliminating their opponents from the title race. The win against Cornish Pirates left last weekend's match against Richmond standing between the Trailfinders and the title, and in a fashion Championship fans have become accustomed to over the past few seasons, the West Londoners ran in 10 tries, ending their season with a flourish to leapfrog Doncaster Knights and finish three points clear at the top of the table.
Deserved champions and an emphatic end to a rollercoaster season, but the Trailfinders' path to the title was anything but easy, with the likes of Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights and Jersey Reds keeping the pressure up on the eventual champions until the end.
While it remains to be seen what will happen in terms of Ealing's upcoming appeal regarding the Minimum Operating Standards for promotion to the Gallagher Premiership, there is no doubt that the 2021/22 Championship season will be remembered as one of the most competitive, gripping, and unpredictable campaigns in the history of the league.