Ealing Trailfinders and Brunel University of London have signed a 10-year renewal agreement that will continue to enable students to combine top-level rugby with their academic studies – and build on the Trailfinders Rugby Academy’s many successes.
The professional team has overseen the performance rugby programmes at Brunel since the partnership launched in 2018. Now more than 500 student players have benefited from the team’s coaches, strength and conditioning staff, their analysts and medical experts – plus access to the club’s two 4G pitches, two gyms and medical area – as part of the Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Scholarship Programme.
Among them are more than 25 players who have represented Ealing Trailfinders, Championship Rugby’s back-to-back winning champions, and more than 20 who have played for Trailfinders Women in the Premiership, including:
Josh Taylor (2024 graduate, Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences) played for Scotland’s back row in the Under-20s Six Nations
Elliot Chilvers (2022 graduate, Marketing Management) was in the first-ever cohort of the Trailfinders Rugby Academy, and made his debut in 2021 for the Club
Lefty Zigiriadis (2023 graduate, Economics and Accounting) made his debut at the end of the 2022/23 season and has since established himself as a regular starter within the Ealing Trailfinders team
Maud Muir (2022 graduate, Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences) has not represented Trailfinders, but has won 40 caps as a prop for England, including back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations and playing in the Women’s Rugby World Cup
Many of the players are enjoying continuing success at Ealing Trailfinders, with others going on to play for other clubs such as Saracens, Toulon, Scarlets, Glasgow and Edinburgh – or, in Muir’s case, Gloucester-Hartpury, with whom she has won two Premiership league titles.
The seven years of the partnership so far have seen multiple promotions for Brunel’s teams, with the women’s side now in the top flight of university rugby, and the launch of the Brunel’s men’s side in the RFU league. This has been supercharged by the opening in 2021 of a £2 million high-performance training facility on Brunel’s Uxbridge-based campus.
The extension of the scholarship programme in 2021 to include women was foundational to Ealing’s aims to build a world-class hub for female rugby players, and was the catalyst for the launch of the Trailfinders Women squad, who are already competing in the country’s top league.
Ben Ward, Ealing Trailfinders’ Director of Rugby and Manager Director, said: “We’re thrilled to be working in close partnership with Brunel for the next 10 years. We view our partnership as a unique set-up for rugby in this country, by linking our academy with a university – and with Brunel’s sporting prowess. Our ongoing long-term partnership confirms Ealing Trailfinders’ and Brunel’s commitment to build the most comprehensive rugby university academy in Europe.”
Gareth Rise, manager of the Ealing Trailfinders Academy, said: “This partnership is the centrepiece of our academy strategy for both men and women players at Ealing Trailfinders. The renewal means the academy, and the ever-growing talent pool that is developing at Brunel, will go from strength to strength."
“It’s important to note that the programme doesn’t just produce great rugby players - it also produces academically minded individuals who have made waves off the pitch.”
In addition to players who have secured places on sought-after graduate schemes, Simone Panella (2024 graduate, Business and Management) set up Dyamotech, a company specialising in wearable technology designed to monitor head impacts in sports, which led to his being crowned Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Hillingdon Business Awards. Many Brunel students have had internship opportunities at the club, such as in physiotherapy and coaching, and Callum Macaulay (2020 graduate, Sports, Health and Exercise Sciences) has risen to become the club’s Head of Performance Analysis.
Professor Jonathan Wastling, Brunel’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, added: “Our partnership with Ealing Trailfinders has been transformational for Brunel’s rugby talent, with our university rugby teams thriving and many of our stars going on to play for Ealing’s men’s and women’s sides. It’s also been a huge boost for all the students who have immersed themselves in the academy’s ecosystem to develop their professional skills."
“It’s a demonstration of a strong partnership that delivers benefits for the local community and beyond, and I’m delighted that we will have another decade of success.”
The Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Scholarship Programme offers bursary and financial assistance with university accommodation and tuition fees for the most promising players from around the world who wish to develop their rugby career alongside studying for a degree. For more information, and to apply, visit www.brunel.ac.uk/ealing-trailfinders.
Image: Signing the 10-year renewal agreement. Seated, left to right: Ben Ward (Director of Rugby and Managing Director, Ealing Trailfinders) and Professor Jonathan Wastling (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Brunel). Standing, left to right: Gareth Rise, Academy Manager, Ealing Trailfinders), Dr Manuel Alonso (Chief Operating Officer, Brunel), Kirsty Smith (Associate Director of Global Engagement, Brunel) and James Budkiewicz (Deputy Director of Commercial Services, Brunel).
