We love the Aviva A league because most teams use it as a real opportunity to try out their youngsters, meaning that players we have seen at school over the last few years can be seen in their club shirts, as professionals.

 

However in round three it has provided us with another reason to love it – it is awesome! We had stunning comebacks, unexpected thrashing, tries galore, it was superb.

 

The only sour note was that Exeter Braves v Bath United was postponed, but we really cannot complain.

 

The evening began with Leicester Tigers A v Worcester Cavaliers. League status would suggest an easy win for Leicester Tigers, what it would not suggest is a 52-21 victory for Worcester Cavaliers, who were ahead by an incredible 47-7 at half time.

 

It was a truly stunning victory from Worcester, who were admittedly more experienced than Leicester, but take nothing away from them. That is as dominant a display as can come. For Leicester, it marks the end of a torrid weekend, first their first team were thumped by Bath, now their second team take a pummeling from Worcester. As one man on Twitter said though, at least they weren’t bageled in this one.

 

Back down the A1 there were two games kicking off in London, London Welsh A v Harlequins A at Ealing Trailfinders’ ground, and London Irish A v Saracens Storm at Irish’s new Hazelwood training complex.

 

London Welsh have been leaking tries for fun in the Premiership but nobody would have expected what happened tonight against a young Harlequins side.

 

London Welsh scored a brilliant six tries, including an incredible five for flanker Will Harries as they beat Quins 40-5. It was a sensational result, and that Harries scored all five tries from the back of driving mauls demonstrated exactly where London Welsh were finding success.

 

Their Irish counterparts were looking in decent shape against Saracens Storm, early in the second half they led the North London club 10-5, however Saracens came ‘storming’ back to win 31-10 with tries from Matt Hankin and Ben Ransom, it was a brilliant comeback from the Storm, and all under the leadership of young Maro Itoke, impressive to say the least.

 

If comebacks are what you like though, then look no further than Bristol United v Gloucester United.

 

Bristol led 27-6 deep into the second half after some impressive worth having gone 6-0 down early on. Their youngsters had had some decent play and scored some well-worked tries. However Gloucester were not done.

 

First Callum Braley scored against his old club, then immediately after his JWC winning half back partner, Billy Burns, scored to make it 27-20. Suddenly Gloucester were back in it, and with momentum firmly, overwhelmingly, in their favour.

 

A possibility became almost a probability as substitute Lewis Ludlow crashed over to narrow the gap to just two points at 27-25, but with only a handful of time left on the clock.

 

With just a couple of minutes left though, the comeback was complete as Billy Meakes scorched over to make it Bristol United 27-30 Gloucester United. The drama was not yet over, in the last play of the game Bristol won a penalty, leaving Gloucester wondering if it had all been for nothing. The penalty never quite made it though and Gloucester’s sensational comeback was sealed.

 

The final game of the day was Sale Jets v Newcastle Falcons, we say the final game, it was scheduled to be played at the same time as the others, however the Falcons got lost en route to the ground so kick off was delayed by fifteen minutes.

 

Perhaps that delay put them off, they went 10-0 down reasonably early on, clawing their way back to 10-3 down by half time, and then 10-6 thanks to a second Rory Clegg penalty early in the second half.

 

That was how it then stayed for a long time, Newcastle began to have more chances but they were not able to convert.

 

However, in keeping with the spirit of the evening, they did eventually go over with a few minutes remaining. Substitute scrum half and 2013/14 Sedbergh School 1^st XV captain James Christie was the man to get it and with the conversion that gave them a three point 13-10 lead.

 

Then, with barely any time left at all, Falcons went over again, this time through Joe Braggs, with Clegg slotting the conversion to seal the comeback and give Newcastle Falcons A the 20-10 victory, their third from three games. The star of the show though was Dan Temm, who was running the Newcastle Falcons twitter feed. For anyone using twitter, his account ( @danieltemm3 ) has just become a must follow account!

 

Aviva A League Round 3 Results:

 

Leicester Tigers A 21-52 Worcester Cavaliers

London Welsh A 40-5 Harlequins A

London Irish A 10-31 Saracens Storm

Bristol United 27-30 Gloucester United

Sale Jets 10-20 Newcastle Falcons

Exeter Braves C-C Bath United

 

Teams:

 

Leicester Tigers A

 

15 John Hargreaves  14 Paolo Odogwu  13 Gift Sankoh  12 Javiah Pohe  11 Rhys Williams  10 Oli Bryant (c)  9 George Prince  1 Owen Hills  2 Jake Farnworth  3 Dan Hogan  4 Joe Maksymiw  5 Dave Lyons  6 Ed Milne  7 Will Owen  8 Laurence Pearce.

 

Replacements: 16 Gareth Turner  17 Henry Sands   18 Guido Cambareri  19 Charlie Beckett  20 Will Foden  21 Bruno Bravo  22 Charlie Thacker  23 Will Sutton.

 

Worcester Cavaliers

 

15 Perry Humphreys,  14 Dean Hammond,  13 Max Stelling,  12 Ravai Fatiaki,  11 James Stephenson,  10 Tiff Eden,  9 Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier (c);  1 Ofa Fainga’anuka,  2 Ben Sowrey,  3 Joe Rees,  4 Matt Perks,  5 Darren O’Shea,  6 Huw Taylor,  7 Matt Gilbert,  8 Richard de Carpentier.

 

Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton,  17 Jack Cosgrove,  18 Alex Gordas,  19 Andrew Kitchener,  20 Sam Harry,  21 George de Cothi,  22 Elliott Davies,  23 Jon Hughes.

 

 

 

Bristol United:

 

15 Darren Hudson;  14 Jack Wallace,  13 Luke Eves,  12 Mark Cooke,  11 Charlie Amesbury;  10 Callum Sheedy,  9 Luke Baldwin;  1 Ellis Genge,  2 Rhys Lawrence,  3 Gaston Cortes,  4 Joe Joyce,  5 Glen Townson,  6 Nick Koster,  7 Olly Robinson,  8 Ben Skirving (c).

 

Replacements: 16 James Stephenson,  17 TBC,  18 Sonny Haines,  19 Max Cresswell,  20 Josh Ovens,  21 Tim Turner,  22 Elias Caven. 

 

Gloucester United:

 

15 Steve McColl;  14 Shane Monahan,  13 Mark Atkinson,  12 Bill Meakes,  11 Tom Isaacs;  10 Aled Thomas,  9 Callum Braley;  1 Nick Wood (c),  2 Darren Dawidiuk,  3 Shaun Knight;  4 James Voss,  5 Tom Hicks;  6 Rory Bartle,  7 Dan Thomas,  8 Will Safe.

 

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole,  17 James Gibbons,  18 Alec Clarey,  19 Roger Birkin,  20 Lewis Ludlow,  21 Harry Bassett,  22 Billy Burns,  23 Charlie Norman.

 

 

 

Sale Jets: TBA

 

Newcastle Falcons A

 

1. Alex Rogers,  2. Rob Hawkins,  3. Oliver Tomaszczyk,  4. Glenn Young,  5. Will Witty,  6. Brian Tuilagi,  7. Andy Saull (c),  8. Richard Mayhew,  9. Dan Taylor,  10. Rory Clegg,  11. Alex Tait,  12. Jamie Helleur,  13. Tom Penny,  14. Danny Barnes,  15. Lee Smith.

 

Replacements: 16. David Nelson,  17. Eric Fry,  18. Mark Irving,  19. Dan Temm,  20. Joe Craggs,  21. James Christie,  22. Craig Willis,  23. Sean Brown.

 

 

 

London Irish A

 

1. Jamie Hagan;  2. Jimmy Stevens;  3. Geoff Cross;  4. Nic Rouse;  5. Toby Salmon;  6. Ollie Curry;  7. Conor Gilsenan;  8. Armond Roux;  9. Darren Allinson;  10. Myles Dorrian (c);  11. James Copsey;  12. Guy Armitage; 1 3. Tom Fowlie;  14. Ross Neal;  15. Matt Noble.

Replacement: 16. Mike Mayhew;  17. Tom Smallbone;  18. Richard Palframan;  19. Theo Vukasinovic;  20. Luke Frost;  21. Connor Murphy;  22. Harry Lightfoot-Brown;  23. Callum Watson.

 

Saracens Storm

 

15. Ben Ransom;  14. Jack Wilson,  13. Nick Tompkins,  12. Max Wilkins,  11. Mike Ellery;  10. Nils Mordt,  9. Ben Spencer;  1. Tom Williams,  2. Phil Thiel,  3. Biyi Alo,  4. Maro Itoje (c),  5. Kennet O’Neill,  6. Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 7 . Matt Hankin,  8. Nick De Jager.

 

Replacements:  16. Antonio Harris,  17. Ben Featherstone,  18. Jack Culverhouse,  19. Torran Macdougall,  20. Don Barrell,  21. Tom Whiteley,  22. Tom Griffiths,  23. George Perkins.

 

 

 

London Welsh A:

 

15. Chris Elder
 14. Conor Corrigan
 13. Sam Wardingley 
12. Courtney Morrison
 11. Adam Field 
10. Will Robinson 
 9. Paul Rowley 
1. Pablo Henn
 2. Matthew Dobson
 3. Eddie Aholelei 
4. Josh McNally 
5. Ben West
 6. Jesse Liston 
7. Jamie Harries
 8. Samir Kharbouch.

 

Replacements: 16. Nathan Vella
 17. Jimmy Litchfield
 18. Ben Cooper
 19. Charlie Smith
 20. Seb Nagle-Taylor
 21. Ed Hoadley
 22. Tom Parker 
23. Tony Chapman.

 

Harlequins A:

 

15 Ross Chisholm 
14 Ollie Lindsay-Hague
 13 Alec Coombes
 12 Sam Aspland-Robinson
 11 Jordan Burns
 10 Louis Grimoldby
 9 Sam Stuart

1 Darryl Marfo
 2 Rob Buchanan
 3 Josh Ibuanokpe
 4 George Merrick
 5 Sam Twomey
 6 Joe Trayfoot
 7 Jack Clifford (c) 
8 James Chisholm.

 

Replacements: 16 Charlie Piper
 17 Ali Wade
 18 TBA 19 Kieran Treadwell
 20 Archie White
 21 Loewy Simmons
 22 Brandon Bellamin
 23 Henry Cheeseman.

LIVE FEED

Get involved by commenting below, or via @FifteenRugbyXV – plenty of current/old schoolmates involved, let’s hear who you’re keen to hear about.

On some devices this page may not refresh automatically, but just hit refresh on your browser & all should be fine.

21.32 – So, to confirm tonight’s results: Leicester Tigers A 21-52 Worcester Cavaliers, London Welsh 40-5 Harlequins A, Bristol United 27-30 Gloucester United, London Irish A 10-31 Saracens Storm, Sale Jets 10-20 Newcastle falcons A. What a night, the A league never lets us down #futurestars

21.30 – It’s all over, the ref blows his whistle and Newcastle Falcons A have beaten Sale Jets 20-10 & have won 3 from 3 in the A league.

21.22 – Joe Braggs is the scorer, Clegg converts. Falcons A lead 20-10. They were 10-6 down to Sale Jets just minutes ago.

21.20 – TRY – Newcaslte go over again! It’s all gone so so wrong for Sale with just minutes left to play, what a night of rugby!

21.18 – And it’s converted, that makes it Sale Jets 10-13 Newcastle Falcons A

21.17 – TRY – 2013/14 Sedbergh School captain James Christie goes over for Newcastle Falcons A to give them the lead, what a moment for the young man!

21.15 – That’s everyone done bar Sale v Newcastle. Results so far. Leicester Tigers A 21-52 Worcester Cavaliers, Bristol united 27-30 Glocuester United, London Welsh A 40-5 Harlequins A, London Irish A 10-31 Saracens Storm.

21.14 – FULL TIME – London Welsh stun Harlequins with six tires, including five for flanker Will Harries. London Welsh A 40-5 Harlequins A.

21.12 – FULL TIME – Gloucester United’s miracle comeback is complete as the referee blos for full time at Clifton. Bristol United 27-30 Glocuester United. Stunning.

21.11 – FULL TIME – Full time at Hazelwood, London Irish A 10-31 Saracens Storm

21.11 – George Perkins the Saracens Storm scorer. Great second half dislay from the Saracens second string.

21.09 – TRY – Saracens have scored another and London Irish A seem to have fallen away somewhat. That’s 31-10 now.

21.08 – You won’t believe it, it’s another try for Will Harries off that driving maul. That’s FIVE for him now, incredible. 1st XV call up?

21.07 – TRY – Another for London Welsh A now, they’re up to 40 points v Quins A, a quite brilliant performance. 40-5 currently.

21.05 – TRY – No way! Billy Meakes scores for Gloucester, they now lead 30-27 v Bristol United. incredible. What a sensational comeback!

21.04 – Matt Hankin the Saracens scorer, Nils Mordt converts.

21.02 – TRY – Saracens on a roll now, they go 26-10 up away at London Irish A

21.00 – TRY – Wow, wow, wow! What a finish we have down at Clifton. Gloucester score another try through Lewis Ludlow to make it 27-25 with ten minutes left. They were 27-6 down v Bristol United earlier!

20.59 – TRY – Louis Grimoldby get Halequins’ first points. Too little too late you feel though. Welsh A 35-5 Quins A

20.57 – Penalty – Rory Clegg brings Newcastle A within touching distance of Sale Jets, 10-6 down now.

20.54 – Matt Hankin the scorer for Saracens, Spencer converts & they lead 19-10 now.

20.53 – Billy Burns the JWC hero is the Gloucester scores & Aled Thomas’ conversion makes it 27-20 now, they’re catching them!

20.52 – TRY – Hello, after a quiet spell it’s tries galore! Another for Gloucester & it looks like Saracens Storm have a third v London Irish A.

20.51 – TRY – Callum Braley scores for Gloucester United against his old club. Aled Thomas converts. Bristol United 27-13 Gloucester.

20.47 – It’s all gone rathe quiet, so just time to tell you that we are expecting to be at at least SIX live school matches this week. We’ll let you know who in due course.

20.41 – FULL TIME – It’s all over at Welford Road and that’s Leicester Tigers A 21-52 Worcester Cavaliers. A miserable few days for Leicester Tigers.

20.39 – TRY – Worcester Cavaliers get their first try of the second half. Ravai Fatiaka the scorer, they can’t convert but that makes it Leicester Tigers A 21-52 Worcester Cavaliers…we think.

20.37 – TRY – Ben Ransom gets Saracens Storm back on top v London Irish A with a try. Ben Spencer converts. 10-12.

20.36 – TRY – You won’t believe this, but Jamie Harries has just scored his fifth, and London Welsh’s fifth to make it 35-0 to Welsh A v Harlequins A.

20.35 – PENALTY – London Irish knock over a penalty to go 10-5 ahead v Saracens Storm early in the second half.

20.32 – TRY – It sure is, it’s Luke Baldwin who score, with Sheedy converting to make it 27-6. Suddenly very, very comfortable for Bristol United.

20.30 – Looks like another Bristol United try….

20.29 – TRY – Bristol’s Jack Wallace goes over to give them a 20-6 lead v Gloucester United.

20.27 – Try disallowed for Newcastle A, forward pass. Seems like the momentum is with them.

20.24 – Ex King’s Worcester star George De Cothi is on for Worcester. He carved up in their incredible 2013 7s season.

20.20 – First points for Newcastle Falcons A. Rory Clegg slots a penalty. Sale Jets 10-3 Falcons A.

20.18 – Half time between London Welsh A and Harlequins A. Will Robinson got the Welsh bonus point try and converted it too, to make it Welsh A 28-0 Quins A at the break.

20.17 – London Welsh have a bonus point, what their 1st XV would do for a performance like this! 20.16 – Half time in Clifton and at Hazelwood. Bristol United 15-6 Gloucester United and London Irish A 7-5 Saracens A.

20.15 – TRY – Great work from Callum Sheedy sees Mark Cooke score. Sheedy converts to make it Bristol united 15-6 Gloucester United.

20.12 – So, Ed Milne scored for Tigers with Bryant converting to make it 21-47. Over at Ealing, Jamie Harries has a hat-trick! He is capitalising on the brillaint London Welsh maul. Robsinson converts to make it 21-0 v Quins A. Over at Clifton with Britol United v Gloucester United, Gloucester’s Will Safe has been yellow carded.

20.11 – My word, tries all around and they make for very interesting reading. London Welsh go 21-0 up v Harlequins A, while Leicester Tigers A have scored another against Worcester Cavaliers…comeback on?

20.09 – The most decorated man in schoolboy rugby (fact not proven, but he surely is) ex Dulwich College man Josh Ibuanokpe is shown a yellow for Harlequins. Offside, so a team card the most likely explanation.

20.07 – TRY – Could this be the start of a great Leicester comeback? Probably not but Paolo Odogwu has scored and Bryant converted to make it Tiger A 14-47 Worcester Cavaliers.

20.06 – Great chat from Newcastle Falcons on Twitter: “Strong falcons defence force the knock on! Their making tackles like ladies to the bathroom… In twos boys and girls.”

20.04 – TRY – Sale Jets intercept a Newcastle pass to race unde the posts and take a 10-0 lead. Perry Humphreys sin binned for Worcester Cavaliers v Leicester. Won’t make a difference to the result.

20.03 – Wrong again with London Welsh! It’s Harries again, converted by Robsinson again. They do lead Quins A 14-0 though.

20.02 – Callum Sheedy slots a penalty to give Bristol United the lead v Gloucester United. 8-6.

20.01 – Sale Jets take a 3-0 lead v Newcastle Falcons A after a penalty.

19.59 – Not what Harlequins were looking for. They’re not 14-0 down v London Welsh A at Ealing Trailfrinders. Eddie Aholelei the scorer.

19.58 – Raft of Worcester Cavaliers substitutions, including Adams Grammar School leaver Andrew Kitchener, brother of the excellent Graham, no prizes for guessing which will be enjoying this more.

19.56 – Back underway at Welford Road. Tigers A 7-47 Worcs Cavaliers. Any guesses on the final score?

19.53 – TRIES! – Bristol score through Rhys Lawrence, Old Millfieldian Callum Sheedy misses the conversion so it is Bristol United 5-6 Gloucester United. Meanwhile at Hazelwood Darren Allinson socre for London Irish to make it Irish A 7-5 Saracens A.

19.50 – Scrap that, it was Jamie Harries, converted by Will Robinson

19.49 – TRY – Ben West scores for London Welsh & the conversion is added to make it London Welsh 7-0 Harlequins.

19.45 – Half time at Welford Road. Leicester Tigers 7-47 Worcester Cavaliers. Awesome from Worcester, disastrous from Leicester.

19.44 – Quins with some early problems. Captain Jack Clifford and second row George Merrick both limp off injured. Aled Thomas has another penalty and gives Gloucester United a 6-0 lead v Bristol United.

19.43 – TRY – this is just getting ridiculous. Worcester score a 7th try v Leicester. It’s captain Richard De Carpentier. Eden converts and that’s 47-7 to Worcester.

19.41 – Speaking of rugby team’s social media (19.19) Sale Sharks have to be among the worst. No announcement of their Jets side this evening, nor does anyone appear to be live tweeting. Not up to scratch really. Luckily Newcastle Falcons are, and our live blog will keep you posted.

19.38 – Ooo, Will Safe held up by Bristol. The Gloucester no 8 had a blinder last time, seems like he’s up for it again.

19.36 – Finally something to cheer about for Leicester as captain Ollie Bryant scores and then converts his own try to make it: Leicester Tigers 7-40 Worcester Cavaliers. At least it isn’t nil.

19.34 – Meanwhile we have kicked off at London Irish, London Welsh, and Bristol. Infact Gloucester are already ahead v Bristol through an Aled Thomas penalty. 3-0.

19.33 – Tigers old boy Perry Humphreys is the scorer. Eden converts, and it’s 40-0 with only just over half an hour played. Unbelievable.

19.31 – Tiff Eden it was, and he converted his own score to make it 33-0. You won’t believe this, as we type – Worcester score again!

19.30 – Gloucester are led out by Nick Wood against Bristol United, meanwhile Worcester have scored ANOTHER try v Leicester!

19.26 – Not long until the other games kick off. Must say, it is rather odd that Welsh A are playing their A league ties at Ealing Trailfinders. It’s better than Oxford, but what’s wrong with Old Deer Park? Can anyone shed any light?

19.24 – Eden converts and Worcester Cavaliers already have the bonus point, 24 minutes in, 26-0 up. How many have ever said that at Welford Road?

19.22 – Oh my word, another one. Max Stelling this time, wow.

19.19 – By the way, follow @bristolrugbytv if you have twitter. For our money, Bristol have the best social media in UK rugby right now.

19.18 – Tiff Eden converts and that makes it 19-0. Still a point a minute, still incrdible.

19.17 – You won’t believe this, but Worcester have scored again. It’s left wing James Stephenson with an interception. This is incredible.

19.12 – Bruzilier is the scorer & Eden has no trouble with this one. 12-0. Worcester Cavaliers scoring at a point a minute.

19.10 – My word, another Worcester try…what has happened to Leicester?!

19.09 – Matt Gilbert the scorer, Tiff Eden misses the conversion. Worcester lead 5-0. Leicester will be hoping this doesn’t turn out like Saturday: Bath v Leicester report

19.08 – TRY – Worcester Cavaliers score early on! 

19.06 – Underways at Welford Road, Leicester’s Ollie Bryant, who captains the side, kicks things off.

19.05 – Very interested to see how the Harlequins centre pairing gets on. It’s Millfield old boy Alec Coombes and current Wellington College full back Sam Aspland-Robinson. At the Rosslyn Park Aspland-Robsinson made an incredible double tap tackle on Coombes.

18.55 – Newcastle Falcons got slightly lost so their kick off against Sale Jets has been pushed back to 19.45. Good to see it’s not just my social rugby side that has these issues!

18.52 – Lots of 1st XV players wishing their younger/2nd team counterparts well Worcester’s Ignacio Mieres saying: “Good luck to all @WorcsWarriors Cavaliers tonight!” They’re set for an interesting match up with a youthful looking Leicester Tigers outfit.

18.46 – All team news can be seen here: A League Team News

18.45 – Fifteen minutes untill the first kick off, times are as follows: Leicester Tigers v Worcester Cavaliers at 19.00, all other games at 19.30.