Hartpury’s unbeaten home run comes crashing down
By Luke Jarmyn & James Orpin, at 4ED Hartpury Stadium
HARTPURY RFC’s fantastic unbeaten home form this season came to a shuddering end on Saturday as reigning champions Ealing put on a relentless display at the 4Ed Hartpury Stadium.
With both teams having fantastic unbeaten records going into the fixture – Ealing headed into the clash on a 21-match winning streak - something was always going to have to give, and unfortunately Hartpury were the side who came up short.
Despite the defeat, one real positive for Mark Cornwell’s side came in the form of winger Ollie Holliday scoring his first hat-trick of tries for the club.
Conditions were nearly perfect for a good game of rugby ahead of kick-off despite it being bitterly cold in Gloucestershire. The ground resplendent with clear skies and no rain for the first in 2026 while a lack of wind kept it perfectly poised as everyone geared up for the fourth and first placed teams in The Champ going toe to toe.
Hartpury fly-half Harry Bazalgette kicked off towards the clubhouse end of the ground end but within two minutes the league leaders opened the scoring after scrum half Michael Stronge ran the perfect support line for Michael Dykes, who brilliantly fended off three players down the left wing before giving the ball inside to Stronge who ran in untouched.
Ealing were blowing the Gloucestershire hosts away, and the second try came ten minutes later, with the Middlesex side targeting the right corner fullback Tobi Wilson produced a silker grubber through kick, after Hartpury’s defence had blitzed up, for winger Dykes to dot down and score.
Hartpury’s poor discipline put themselves on the backfoot, and Ealing’s fullback then turned from provider to scorer as he dummied the last defender to dash over on the cusp of the match’s quarter-mark.
Hartpury struggled to build any real attacks in the first half, failing to build on some great work at the breakdown where they won multiple penalties through great jackaling.
Mark Cornwell’s men finally managed to fire a shot of their own and crossed the whitewash for the first time in the 25th minute after a well-worked back move with crisp, accurate passing, which led to Ollie Holliday dotting down on the left wing. Ever the talisman, Bazalgette nailed the conversion to extend his league-leading points tally.
Ealing quelled any chance of Hartpury getting back on top in the first-half as Stronge scored in nearly identical fashion to his first try two minutes later, however, this time the scrum-half had a bit extra to do as he sidestepped ‘pury fullback Brad Denty before running clear to slide over under the sticks.
With Ealing having the try bonus point secured in less than half-an-hour, they looked at their confident best and a fifth try came on the 33rd minute as Dykes went over for his second try after a looping pass from fly-half Dan Jones created space out wide, as Ealing picked off Hartpury’s last defenders off.
Poor discipline then really cost Hartpury as No.8 Tom Worts was sin-binned for collapsing the maul. A minute later, Jones dived over unopposed just outside the left upright to end the half.
The Gloucestershire hosts came out firing after the interval and a powerful driving maul before some strong cross-field carries saw Holliday run down the right for his second try.
After a sustained period in Ealing’s 22 metre zone, Hartpury finally got their third try when Bazalgette whipped a pass wide to Holliday on the left, who cruised over for his hat-trick score.
Ealing kicked themselves back into gear, back-rower Josh Taylor dotted down behind a rolling maul on the 70th minute.
Unfortunately, Hartpury couldn’t manage to grab a fourth try, and it was the visitors tighthead PJ Sheck who grappled across the whitewash after some strong carries from their pack to finish out the game.
Despite Hartpury’s defeat, there’s positives they can take into the game against Coventry including being able to draw the second-half against the unbeaten league leaders and reigning champions.
Stats:
|
Hartpury RFC |
|
Ealing Trailfinders |
|
11 |
Penalties conceded |
7 |
|
5 |
Line-outs won |
12 |
|
2 |
Line-outs lost |
2 |
|
4 |
Scrums won |
2 |
|
0 |
Scrums lost |
0 |
|
1 |
Yellow cards |
0 |
|
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
Hartpury RFC: Brad Denty, Keir Clark (Jack Cotgreave 41), Robert Smith, Oliver Allsopp, Oliver Holliday (Josh Field 65), Harry Bazalgette, Rhys Price (Samuel Allford 72); Archie McArthur (Harrison Bellamy 65), Ethan Hunt (cc) (Will Turner 56), Alexander Gibson (George Perry 73), Peter Paramore, Jack Davies (cc), Cameron Cobbett (Freddie Stevens 69), Harry Short (Ellis Hart 76), Tom Worts
Tries: Ollie Holliday 25, 43, 64,
Conversions: Harry Bazalgette 26, 65
Sin-bins: Tom Worts 38
Ealing Trailfinders: Tobi Wilson, Geordie Gywnn, Francis Moore (William Parry 41), Rory Scannell, Michael Dykes, Dan Jones, Michael Stronge (Sam Edwards 75); Kyle Whyte (Elliott Chilvers 51), Scott Buckley (c) (Michael Willemse 26), George Davis (PJ Sheck 51), David Bridge (Matas Jurevicius 54), Sean Lonsdale, Kyle Hatherell, Jordan Reid (Josh Taylor 51), William Montgomery (Gabriel Mann 70)
Tries: Michael Stronge 2, 27, Michael Dykes 13, 33 Tobi Wilson 19, Dan Jones 40, Josh Taylor 70, PJ Sheck 79
Conversions: Dan Jones 3, 28, 34
Referee: George Selwood (RFU).
Attendance: 820.
Half-time score: 07 - 36 (to Ealing Trailfinders)
Star players: Ollie Holliday (Hartpury RFC) / Dan Jones (Ealing Trailfinders).
Reaction:
Couzins: ‘The game was gone after the first 40’
By James Orpin, at 4ED Hartpury Stadium
AFTER losing for the first time at home this season and for the first time in any game in 2026, the looks on Hartpury’s staff and players faces spoke a thousand words.
Hartpury RFC’s attack coach Luke Couzins gave a frank assessment and said: “The first 40 minutes was a tough one to swallow, and at half-time we just said we'll target the four tries, but just fell a bit short.
“Realistically the game was gone for us after the first 40 minutes, and fair play to Ealing in that they were ruthless. Their power and variety were hard for us to cope with.”
Couzins accepted that Ealing’s ruthlessness was to be somewhat expected given the fact they’re top of the table and unbeaten so far this season.
Couzins added: “They're the best team in the league. We came up against them in the groove, and from what we’d been watching, they went up another gear today,’
“Sometimes we've just got to put it down and say respect to the opposition
“Our boys are the same blokes going into it for 80 minutes every week. We haven’t got the luxury of rotating the squad, so you're going to get these kinds of weeks, and if it's going to happen, you may as well do it against the team that’s unbeaten.”
On what his side did well, and ‘pury hat-trick hero Ollie Holiday, Couzins added: “Yeah, he took his chances well, that's where space was, and we managed to unlock it three times out there. But, yeah, fair play, a hat trick is always good to get and especially against a team like Ealing.”
On the game and his hat-trick of tries, Holliday said: “It’s bittersweet with the loss and it being such a big loss, but it feels great to perform and to bag my first hat-trick in the champ.”
On any potential learnings, the winger said: “We have to bring that physicality. Coventry has a good setup like Ealing and it’s just bringing that physicality and knowing we can beat these teams, but we’ve got to be in it from minute 1 until 80.”
Despite defeat, Hartpury remain in fourth and have the opportunity to extend their lead in fourth next week over Coventry, who lie in fifth.
