No rest for Yorkshire Carnegie as Stirling continues forward planning

Carnegie prevailed 24-7 against Richmond at Headingley Carnegie, enabling them to bounce back from their opening-weekend defeat at the hands of Hartpury College.

This weekend sees them again head south to take on Ealing Trailfinders, themselves buoyed by a win at the weekend at London Scottish after they too lost their opening game, going down 20-7 at home to London Irish.

Stirling anticipates a tough welcome in London.

“Ealing will test us physically,” said New Zealand-born Stirling.

“They have a lot of athletes and they’re bigger and more powerful.

“We will have to be really aggressive and sharp in what we do and get in their space, we need to make sure that we contest everything.”

Stirling said he sees the coming weeks as vital in laying solid foundations for eventually bringing sustained success to Headingley Carnegie.

“We’re two games into what is a 24- to 36-month plan,” added Stirling. “We’re building a foundation at the moment so that when we need to be we will be top of the heap.

“Headingley Carnegie is going to be a fantastic venue and we need to build up to ensure it becomes a fortress and that won’t happen just by talking about it.”