After losing narrowly in a friendly a year ago against Twickenham, who went on to gain promotion from Counties 1, Ealing 1871, giving game time to 26 players and featuring several newcomers to the club or to the 1st XV, scored eight tries in a notable win over the same opponents,. The eventual margin of victory was testament to a high level of fitness achieved since the start of July, and despite plenty of imperfections to work on before the first league game in three weeks’ time, there was no lack of promising signs. Calum Gillie, George Emmerson, Ben Pothecary, David Coleman and Tarisai Williams all featured for the first time, while Marquis Daly-Vidal was given his 1st XV debut and Ed Reid made his first start at this level.

In an inauspicious opening passage of play the ball was knocked on from the Twickenham kick-off, and the visitors finally forced their way over on the right wing for an unconverted try. The Ealing response was immediate, with Josh Steadman catching Harry Vidler’s kick and launching Ryan Conyard and captain Lewis Steadman, who deceived his opposite number by dummying a pass. Twickenham regained the lead with a well-worked try by their 14, popping up at the side of a scrum, before Ealing restored parity at the end of the first quarter with a powerful run to the posts by man of the match Sevanaia Laqeretabua. The Level 6 visitors once gain moved ahead after Ealing had lost possession in attack. Lewis Steadman then notched his second score of the day to bring his team to within two points from a quickly taken penalty.

With slight ascendancy in the set scrums and generally accurate line-out work, 1871 began to dominate as the third quarter progressed, despite going 26-17 down. Theo Szweda finished under the posts before full back Ben Pothecary scored on debut to put Ealing in the lead for the first time. 1871 stretched away against the tiring visitors in the last quarter with further tries by forwards Noah Stewart and Joe Kelly. The game ended with a hugely popular score by Marquis Daly-Vidal, receiving the ball from Ed Reid and cutting inside with a neat side step to avoid being forced into touch.

The coaching team overall were satisfied with the level of performance and the opportunity for the squad to gel, although moments of lack of control and indecisiveness showed that there are areas to be worked on before the first league game, against UCS on 6 September.