A visit from the deep-pocketed Trailfinders was always going to be a tough challenge for this young and ambitious Richmond squad and whilst the result was not favourable there were plenty of positive moments to take away.

The visitors had made 11 changes but that certainly did not weaken their team and they started brightly scoring 2 quick tries to go into a comfortable 12-0 lead.

The Richmond defence responded, led by the hard-hitting Miles Wakeling (deserving Richmond man of the match on the night), and turned the ball over in the Ealing half. Some good mauling and strong carrying lead to a raft of Ealing penalties with the live-wire Jared Cardew eventually crossing the whitewash after some great maul work from the whole pack. Notably Luke Spring and Christian Freeman.

This left the score at 12-5 and whilst the Richmond defence was strong, with Jake Monson and Will Goffey prominent, the Ealing aerial game came to the fore. A combination of the dark Friday night sky and steepling box kicks made catching difficult resulting in a series of scrums where Ealing were getting plenty of reward.

The fantastic line kicking of outside half Scannell continued to push Ealing deep into Richmond territory and a couple more maul tries followed. Pace and skill from the Trailfinders backs complimented their power upfront and some slick handling and astute finishing meant that Richmond found themselves in the half-time sheds 31-5 down.

Ealing are known for their ability to kick on from a fast start so immense credit must go to Richmond for the resolute second half showing. Wakeling continued to hit anything in green and Richmond managed to get their hands on the ball more.

Despite an early yellow card for Christian Freeman Luc Jones managed to get the back line ticking and strong running from Ronnie Du-Randt opened some space for the classy Paddy Case to make several of his trademark breaks. George Nugent, featured in the match pre-view, coupled more strong breakdown work with some big carries eventually getting across the whitewash. Strong performances from Vaughn and Litchfield off the bench shored up the Richmond scrum and with the crowd behind them a 4 try bonus point was a distinct possibility.

Unfortunately that was not to be and Ealing did run in two second half tries of their own. In keeping with the game one from a strong maul drive and the other the result of a great backline move spearheaded by a familiar foe, George Worboys.

43-12 was the final score, a seemingly fair reflection of the visitors dominance on the night but by no means a reflection of the intensity and effort of Richmond. The team are looking good and an exciting away trip to Nottingham awaits on Friday.