Metcalf move is a show of intent for Ealing

AMBITIOUS Ealing Trailfinders have pulled off another recruitment coup with the capture of Sale Sharks youngster Jack Metcalf.

Metcalf enjoyed a breakthrough season in the Sharks first-team in 2021/22, making his debut in both the Premiership and Champions Cup.

The 21-year-old centre/ wing scored on his Champions Cup debut against Ospreys in January and made three appearances in Europe’s elite competition, including a late call-up for the quarter-final against Racing 92.

A product of the esteemed Leeds academy, Metcalf, below, also managed three tries in four Premiership Rugby Cup outings.

Given how Metcalf acquitted himself so well in the first-team, it comes as something of a surprise that the Sharks haven’t kept him on.

Ealing, however, have big plans to win the Championship for a second year running and put themselves in the frame for promotion to the Premiership – a prize they were denied at the end of last season.

Metcalf said: “When the opportunity came to join Ealing it was a no-brainer. It’s a great club with fantastic facilities and a clear ambition to progress even further.”

He joins a squad laden with new talent at Vallis Way including one of his best mates, Dan Lancaster.

With Lancaster arriving from Premiership champions Leicester, along with Metcalf and Connacht’s Peter Robb, Ealing DoR Ben Ward has seriously strengthened his centre options. Robb is a powerful runner and was a member of the PRO12-winning squad of 2016.

Metcalf becomes Ealing’s 13th new arrival of the summer, in addition to a host of contract extensions penned by the current squad.