Ampthill go down to heavy defeat against Trailfinders
Ampthill went down to a 50-19 defeat against Ealing Trailfinders in their Elior Champ contest on Saturday, as The StoneX Stadium, home of Saracens RFC, hosted English rugby’s first ever triple header with three of the top domestic competitions going head-to-head.
A’s came into this weekend off the back of a tricky loss at Coventry, but with plenty of players unavailable, they knew it would be a difficult test.
The Mob were able to start the fastest on the day, Nathan Blackmore coasting over under the posts on his debut, fly-half Raff Weston nailing the kick.
Ealing responded minutes later through Reuben Bird-Tulloch, followed by a close range finish from visiting captain Mike Willemse, which put the visitors 12-7 in front.
Much had been said in the week about Ampthill’s fearless attacking style and this would be shown as the Mob retook the lead, Ed Timpson continuing his fine scoring spree as he took the ball off the back of the breakdown before bundling over the line, Weston converting.
A busy first half saw both teams attempt to take control of the game, but the visitors ultimately came out on top, replacement Fionn Gibbons collecting and going over in the corner, Dan Jones adding the extras to make it 19-14.
Ampthill had held their own in the first half and at points were the better side, but it would be the visitors who would show their strength.
Two quick-fire second half scores extended Trailfinders’ advantage to 31-14 as a second for Bird-Tulloch and a driving maul put them three scores ahead.
Again the visitors responded, this time in style, a breakaway from Toby Baker and offloads from Ollie Mullarkey, Tino Mapapalangi and Efan Jones ended up in Joe Heslop’s hands as he touched down.
A tricky afternoon for the hosts would be compounded as Ealing finished the match with a flurry of three tries.
The first coming from Hayden Hyde, followed by one for new signing Max Nagy and replacement Jordy Reid would cap off a strong performance for the visitors.
Ampthill visit Worcester Warriors on Sunday.
» Ampthill player Justin Mataele made his first start for Tonga in their 43-38 Nations Championship victory over Romania on Saturday.
The lock had 64 minutes of the clash, having been picked by Tevita Tu’ifua, as ahead of the game, Amps head coach Dave Ward said: “Justin was excellent last season for us, and although returning from injury.
“I’m sure he will be a huge asset to both the Ampthill and Tongan squads now that he is back and firing on all cylinders.”
» England head coach Steve Borthwick picked four ex-Ampthill players in his match-day squad to face Australia in the Ella-Mobbs Cup at the Allianz Stadium on Friday.
Ben Earl, Alex Coles and Fin Smith all started the 45-22 victory, as Greg Fisilau came on as a second half substitute.