A win for Bath at Millfield School over Exeter Chief was arguably the big story of the weekend in the final round of the U18 Premiership.

It was the big story not because Bath won, but because it took them from 5^th in the Southern Conference to second, securing them a place at Allianz Park for finals day. They actually ended level with Exeter but a superior points difference and try count saw them finish second.

Saracens finished well clear of the field in the South following their 43-12 victory over London Irish. They will be up against the Northern table toppers, Northampton Saints, on finals day.

Saints are the reigning champions of the U18 Premiership, and they certainly look impressive this year, having yet to taste defeat. They travelled to Hartpury College to play Gloucester on Saturday, knowing that a loss could see Gloucester pip them to top spot.

However there were to be no such last minute pains for the champions as they beat Gloucester 20-13, with Glocuester eventually finishing third in the table after Leicester Tigers played out a surprising 25-25 draw away at Newcastle to pip the Cherry & Whites to second spot by a point.

Yorkshire Carnegie finished off their campaign on a high, having not tasted victory all year they finally got their rewards for their hard work with a 29-17 home victory over Sale Sharks. Not enough for them to move off the foot of the table, but enough to salvage some pride.

There was to be no such luck for Bristol in the Southern Conference though as they finished the competition without a win as they lost 40-19 at Surrey Sports Park to second from bottom Harlequins, finishing up nine points behind them in the final standings.

Aviva U18 Academy Premiership Results:

Saracens 43-12 London Irish

Yorkshire Carnegie 29-17 Sale Sharks

Gloucester 13-20 Northampton Saints

Harlequins 40-19 Bristol

Bath 25-17 Exeter Chiefs

Newcastle Falcons 25-25 Leicester Tigers

Tables:

Team News:

Saracens:

15 Max Malins  14 Alex Gilham  13 Dominic Morris  12 Fili Savou  11 Will Kaye  10 Tom Ffitch  9 Alex Patton  1 Ralph Hale-Adams  2 Harrison King  3 Billy Walker  4 Danny Cutmore  5 Nick Isiekwe  6 Jacob Moody  7 Ethan Waddleton  8 Ben Earl.

Replacements:  16 Albie Sayer  17 Matthew Brooks  18 Seb Brownhill  19 Hamish Hughes  20 Alex Everett  21 James Lennon  22 Josh Wright  23 Reuebn Bird-Tulloch.

London Irish:

15. Tom Parton;  14. Ben Loader;  13. Matt Williams;  12. Lewis Smapson;  11. Joe Cokanasiga;  10. Eddie Lewis;  9. Callum Watson;  1. Freddie Boyce;  2. Curtis Langdon;  3. Toby Hill;  4. Luke Frost;  5. Charlie Stonehill;  6. Jared Leat;  7. Jack Ingall;  8. Isaac Curtis-Harris.

Replacements: 16. Jake Waterman;  17. Matt Kouris;  18. Tyler White;  19. Hugo McPeherson;  20. Sam Collingridge;  21. Dan Grant Adamson;  22. Jacob Atkins;  23. Conor Burns .

Yorkshire Carnegie:

15 Ben Smith  14 James Pinder  13 Tom Bullough  12 Connor Field  11 Suva Ma’asi  10 Sam Allan (c)  9 Jimmy McDaniel  1 Charlie Capps  2 Jordon Poole  3 Nathan Smith  4 Raffen Cherrington  5 Elliot Ward  6 Ross Kirtland  7 Lewis Wilson  8 Brandon Staples.

Replacements:16 Luke Chadwick  17 Will Dennis  18 Will Bowie  19 James Sanderson  20 Tom Gorman  21 Will Smith  22 Sam Harrison.

Sale Sharks:

15 Alex Mitchell  14 Mark Dixon  13 Dan Greer  12 Harry Blackwell  11 Charlie Venables  10 Ali Crossdale  9 Conor Dever  1 George Williams  2 Christian Taylor  3 Jake Pope  4 Matt Postlethwaite  5 Sam Haley  6 Tom Curry  7 Ben Curry  8 Joe McGrail.

Replacements: 16 Lewis Bradley  17 Jordan Grass  18 Max Davies  19 Druw Fray  20 Tom MacCuish  21 Callum Emery  22 Ali Wealthall.

Gloucester:

Robbie Forbes,  Eric White,  Mason Tonks,  Clayton Dee,  Terrance Barbarinsa,  Robbie Faulkner,  Harry Bassett;  Alex Chaklin,  Joe Mullis,  Alex Serville,  Tyler Jerrum,  Fergus Taylor,  Hanco Germishuys,  Tobin Reynolds,  Gareth Jones.

Replacements: Henry Walker,  Guy Toye,  Dewi Wilcox,  Will Haly,  Miles Churcher,  Jack Combs,  George Clair,  AN Other.

Northampton Saints:

15 George Furbank  14 Adam Shaw  13 Jamel Hamilton  12 Freddie McKibbin  11 Rotimi Segun  10 James Grayson  9 Ben Richardson  1 Ryan Eveleigh  2 Rob Marmion  3 Luc Jeannot  4 Alex Moon  5 John Hawkins (c)  6 Tim Cardall  7 Will Allman  8 George Cox.

Replacements:  16 Alex Rayment  17 Jake Byrne  18 Ehren Painter  19 Toby Trinder  20 Jake Carter  21 Robert Smith  22 Tosin Segun  23 Charlton Kerr.

Harlequins:

1 Mofe Wilkey  2 Bradley Ugodulunwa  3 Suvwe Obano  4 John Okafor  5 Archie White  6 Sean Richardson  7 Victor Kuenen  8 Dino Lamb-Cona  9 Niall Saunders  10 Will Brinkley  11 Matt Chant  12 Ben Sackey  13 Loewy Simmons  14 Finn Lewthwaite  15 Sam Aspland-Robinson.

Replacements: 16 James Hadfield  17 Nathan Thomas  18 Sam Gratton  19 Ben Gasson  20 James Gulliver  21 Brandon Bellamin  22 Riordan Morley  23 Max Coyle.

Bristol:

1 Alex Harvey  2 Ben Gompels  3 Liam Appleton  4 Tom Cooksey  5 Scott Ball  6 Kean Gannaway-Roberts  7 Jack Capon  8 Tom Beck  9 Tom Fournier  10 Isaac Hydleman  11 Mike Green  12 James Newey  13 Mitch Mayes  14 Elias Caven  15 Sam Clements.

Replacements: 16 Brandon Mustoe  17 Seamus Watson  18 Ellis Joseph  19 Jack Gibson  20 Sam Boyland  21 Alex Ryan  22 Lewis Leaker  23 Jordan Hayward .

Bath:

1. Vaughan  2. Frost  3. John  4. Ransom  5. Britton  6. Bayliss (c)  7. Blackmore  8. Mean  9. Shrestha  10. Hastings  11. Atkins  12. Waters  13. Mackenzie  14. Rees  15. Graham.

Replacements: 16. Starks  17. Oghre  18. Carter  19. Rice  20. Vecchio  21. Dabell  22. Kelly  23. Martin.

Exeter Chiefs:

15. Matt Butler  14. Aaron Chapman  13. Harry Strong  12. Noah Sixton  11. Harrison Cully  10. James McFarlane  9. Jack Maunder  1. Oli Daw  2. Luke Trewhella  3. Billy Keast  4. Kieran Westlake  5. Connor O’Shaunnesy  6. Josh Caulfield  7. Nat Bayett  8. Declan Matthews.

Replacements: 16. Charlie Gibbings  17. Liam Hilliar  18. Jack Stanley  19. Angus Brown  20. Toby Papp  21. Oli Avery Wright  22. Tom Putt  23. Ethan Tyler.

Newcastle Falcons:

1 Angus Fulton (Gosforth Academy),  2 Jack Beckwith (Barnard Castle),  3 Elliott Beattie (Gateshead College),  4 Aidan Coulthard (West Lakes College),  5 Anth Davies (Newcastle School for Boys),  6 Richard Marr (Gosforth Academy),  7 Joe Craggs (Gosforth Academy),  8 Callum Chick (c) (Gosforth Academy),  9 Charlie Gowling (Sedbergh),  10 Sam Leeming (Barnard Castle),  11 Dan Marshall (Gosforth Academy),  12 Lloyd Purser (Durham),  13 Ben Stevenson (Yarm),  14 Garry Izomor (Durham),  15 Callum Burn (Kirkley Hall College).

Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire (Gosforth Academy),  17 James Orritt (Sedbergh),  18 Adam Mohammed (Gosforth Academy),  19 James Jennings (Barnard Castle),  20 Lewis Roxby (Hartlepool 6th Form College),  21 Harry Graham (Worksop College),  22 James Cooney (Gosforth Academy),  23 Jack Appleton (Newcastle School for Boys).

Leicester Tigers:

O.Hills; L.Evitt; F.Tuilagi; C.Harvey; A.Gellatly; O.Povoas; W.Evans; S.Priestly-Nangle; E.Fusco; J.Duffield; J.Olowofela; L.Winterbottom; G.Worth(Capt); S.Yawayawa; W.Sutton.