The 2014/15 U18 Academy Premiership starts this evening with Saracens v Harlequins, followed by five further matches throughout the weekend.

Last season Northampton Saints U18s took the crown on finals day at Allianz Park, they open their campaign at Franklin’s Gardens at 13.00 against Yorkshire Carnegie.

Their opponents in that final, Exeter Chiefs, face the promositiong London Irish Academy at the same time, while at 14.00 Wasps take on Bath at Harrow School, home of Wasps Academy youngster Callum Sirker, among others.

Leicester Tigers finished in third place last season, they face Gloucester, who Academy stars have been gaining first team experience rapidly over the last couple of years, with the likes of Billy Burns and Ross Moriarty graduating from U18 to A League, and eventually 1^st XV representation, along with England u20 JWC honours along the way.

The weekend is rounded off with Worcester Warriors against Sale Sharks at midday on Sunday at Sixways.

Before all of that though is Saracens against Harlequins at Allianz Park this evening. The game kicks off at 18.00, and both sides are packed with familiar faces.

There are likely to be several school mates vying against each other, particularly from Whitgift School, who have Alex Patton and Matt Gallagher starting at scrum half and full back respectively for Saracens, while their team mates Brandon Bellamin, Alex Hogg, and Sam Morley all line up in opposition for Harlequins.

With further teams to be announced, it is all set to be a fantastic weekend of U18 Academy action.

You can get involved by entering our U18 Premiership Prediction Competition, just predict the winners for each game & if you get them right you win a Fifteen Rugby t-shirt – just follow this link, U18 Premiership Prediction Competition.

U18 Academy Premiership Fixtures:

Saracens v Harlequins – Friday, 18.00, Allianz Park

Leicester Tigers v Gloucester – Saturday, 12.00, Welford Road

Northampton Saints v Yorkshire Carnegie – Saturday, 13.00, Franklin’s Gardens

London Irish v Exeter Chiefs – Saturday, 13.00, TBA

Wasps v Bath – Saturday, 14.00, Harrow School

Worcester Warriors v Sale Sharks – Sunday, 12.00, Sixways

Team News:

Saracens U18

1. Adams-Hale,  2. King,  3. Walker,  4. Cutmore,  5. Isiekwe,  6. Moody,  7. Skinner,  8. Everitt;  9. Patton,  10. Malins;  11. Kaye,  12. Savou,  13. Morris,  14. Dickinson-Earl;  15. Gallagher.

Replacements: 16. Reed,  17. Brownhill,  18. Lester,  19. Holland,  20. Jackson,  21. Wright,  22. Ramsey,  23. Ffitch.

Harlequins U18 Squad:

Forwards: Mofe Wilkey (Trinity),  Bradley Ugodulunwa (Wimbledon College),  Sam Gratton (Woking College),  Jamie Ure (Sackville),  James Hunt (Epsom College),  Archie White (Epsom College),  Sean Richardson (Brighton College),  Dino Lamb-Cona (Cranleigh School),  James Hadfield (Hurstpierpoint College),  Will Lockhart-Smith (KCS Wimbledon),  Suvwe Obano (John Fisher),  James Gulliver (Halliford School),  Nathan Thomas (John Fisher).

Backs: Sam Aspland-Robinson (Wellington College),  Loewy Simmons (Brighton College),  Brandon Bellamin (Whitgift),  Gabriel Ibitoye (Trinity),  Oliver Davis-Smith (Hartpury College),  Alex Hogg (Whitgift),  Zack Santos (Hampton),  Tom Nicole (Guildford County School),  Sam Morley (Whitgift),  Matt Chant (Peter Symonds College).

Northampton Saints:

15 Adam Shaw  14 Rotimi Segun  13 Rory Hutchinson  12 Harry Mallinder (capt)  11 Tosin Segun  10 James Grayson  9 Robert Smoth  1 Luke Palmer  2 Freddie Davison  3 Luc Jeannott  4 Alex Moon  5 John Hawkins  6 Tim Cardall  7 Lewis Ludlam  8 George Cox.

Replacements: 16 Robert Marmion  17 George Cave  18 Jake Byrne  19 Toby Trinder  20 Will Allman  21 Mike Morris  22 Jamel Hamilton  23 Freddie McKibbin.

Yorkshire Carnegie:

15 Sam Allan  14 Tom Gorman  13 Harry Dunne  12 Max Wright  11 Dan Tai  10 Ben Smoth  9 Jimmy McDaniel  1 Charles Capps  2 Jordon Poole  3 Will Dennis  4 Raffen Cherrington  5 Elliot Ward  6 Ben Longton  7 Lewis Wilson  8 James Sanderson.

Replacements: 16 Lewis Boyce  17 Harry Newborn  18 Luke Chadwick  19 Connor Field  20 Suva Ma’asi  21 Tom Hatchwell.

London Irish:

1. Freddie Boyce;  2. Curtis Langdon;  3. Tyler White;  4. Charlie Stonehill;  5. Hugo McPherson;  6. Greg Brown;  7. Jack Ingall;  8. Luke Frost;  9. Callum Watson;

10. Theo Brophy-Clews (Captain);  11. Joe Cokanasiga;  12. Cam Smith;  13. Johnny Williams;  14. Matt Williams;  15. Tom Parton.

Replacements: 16. Austin Hay;  17. Johnson Chandigere;  18. Toby Hill;  19. Patrick McPherson;  20. Jarod Leat;  21. Eddie Lewis;  22. Ben Holt;  23. Lewis Sampson.

Worcester Warriors:

15 Jacob Ham (King’s Worcester)  14 Max Himbury (Warriors AASE)  13 Will Hollis (King’s Worcester)  12 Will Butler (Hereford Cathedral)  11 Ciaran Wardle (Rugby Lions)  10 Luke White (Bromsgrove School)  9 Jamie Shillcock (Warwick School)  1 Seb Dean-Smith (Warriors AASE)  2 George Newman (Warriors AASE)  3 Joe White (Warriors AASE)  4 Ben Davis-Moore (Warriors AASE)  5 Justin Clegg (Bromsgrove School)  6 Myles Edwards (Warriors AASE)  7 Zac Xiourouppa (Hartpury)  8 Max Hill (Warriors AASE).

Replacements:  16 Will Priestly (Warwick School)  17 Callum Jacob (King’s Worcester)  18 Ali Hajazie (Bablake School)  19 Tom Ford (Bromsgrove School)  20 Charlie Morgan (Solihull School)  21 Moses Fakato (Solihull School)  22 George Trimmer (Old Swinford Hospital)  23 Alex Nesbitt (Bromsgrove School).

Further Teams TBA