The U18 Academy Premiership finals take place on Monday 16^th February at Allianz Park, with Northampton Saints and Saracens facing each other for the title of U18 Premiership Champions.

After finishing top of the Northern and Southern conferences respectively, the winners of the game, kicking off at 17.00, will be the U18 Champions.

The day starts at 13.00 with a West Country derby between Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs. They finished third in their respective conferences, meaning that their game effectively settles 5^th and 6^th place. Both had been sitting pretty in second place before the final round of games, and could even have made it to the top of the table on the final day, however both lost to key rivals, with Gloucester losing to Northampton Saints, who sealed top spot in the North, and Exeter losing to Bath, who pipped them to second place in the South courtesy of that result.

That result for Bath means that they feature in the 15.00 kick off, the third place play off, against Leicester Tigers. Tigers secured second in the north following a final day draw against Newcastle Falcons, a valuable two points as it turned out as following Gloucester’s defeat to Northampton Saints it was enough to give the Tigers second place by just a single point.

If that seems close though, Bath securing of second was even closer, their came down to points difference after they finished level on points with Exeter Chiefs.

Of course the main focus though will be on that 17.00 kick off, the U18 Premiership Final, between Northampton Saints and Saracens.

Northampton Saints are the defending champions, having beaten Exeter Chiefs 31-18 at Allianz Park at this time last year. They were captained by Harry Mallinder, who went on top represent England at the FIRA/AER European Championships, which they won, alongside teammate Rotimi Segun. Both could play in tomorrow’s final, as could Segun’s younger brother Tosin.

Bring reigning champions, and having gone through the league season undefeated, it would be logical to assume that Saints will go into this with plenty of confidence, however so to will Saracens.

The North London side have actually beaten Saints already this season, having won 32-10 in a friendly over Christmas. Unlike Northampton though Saracens did lose one game in their league campaign, away at Exeter Chiefs a month ago.

Besides that though it has been a pretty dominant campaign for Saracens, who despite that defeat only ended up with one less point that Saints thanks to an impressive six bonus points form their six fixtures. With home advantage, they will fancy their chances of taking the title.

Champions Saints will be in no mood to relinquish their crown, so it ought to be a fascinating game of rugby, on what should be a great day of entertainment at Allianz Park.

U18 Premiership Finals Day Fixtures:

Northampton Saints v Saracens – 1^st Place Play-off, 17.00

Leicester Tigers v Bath – 3^rd Place Play-off, 15.00

Gloucester v Exeter Chiefs – 5^th Place Play-off, 13.00

All games take place on Monday 16^th February at Allianz Park, entry is free from 11.30am.

Team News:

Northampton Saints:

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

Replacements: 16. Rob Marmion  17. Jake Byrne  18. Ehren Painter  19. Toby Trinder  20. Matt Watson  21. Rob Smith  22. James Grayson  23. Tosin Segun.

Saracens:

15 Will Kaye  14 Alex Gilham  13 Dominic Morris  12 Fili Savou  11 Euan Dickson-Earle  10 Max Malins  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 Aston Lester  17 Matthew Brooks  18 Seb Brownhill  19 Joe Hughes  20 Alex Munday  21 James Lennon  22 Nick Ramsey  23 Jack Longhurst.

Leicester Tigers:

O Will Sutton  N Sam Yawayaw  M Jordan Olowofela  L Charlie Thacker  K Paolo Odogwu  J George Worth (c)  I Ben White; A Owen Hills  B Luis Evitt  C Dan Hogan  D Charlie Harvey  E Alex Galletley  F Zak Poole  G Will Evans  H Stone Preistley-Nangle.

Replacements:  P Jamie Jack  Q Aubrey Grimes  R Joe Green  S Toby Hutchinson  T Harry Simmons  U Levi Davis  V Jake Duffield.

Bath:

1. Will Vaughan  2. Dan Frost  3. Callum Carter   4. Bailey Ransom   5. Matt Solway   6. Josh Bayliss (c)  7. Sid Blackmore   8. Charlie Morris-Mean   9. Parimal Shrestha   10. Adam Hastings   11. Darren Atkins  12. Owen Waters   13. Dom Mackenzie  14. Sam Rees  15. Oli Graham.

Replacements: 16. Gabirel Oghre   17. Sam Starks  18. Benji John   19. Charlie Smith  20. James Vecchio  21. Tom Dabell  22. Kieran Kelly  23. Henry Martin.

Gloucester:

1 Alex Chaklin,  2 Joe Mullis,  3 Alex Serville,  4 Tyler Jerrum,  5 Alex Graig,  6 Harry Lloyd-Jones,  7 Tobin Reynolds,  8 Hanco Germishuys;  9 Harry Bassett,  10 Clayton Dee,  11 Terrance Barbarinsa,  12 Elliot Creed,  13 Ollie Thorely,  14 Mason Tonks,  15 Robbie Forbes.

Replacements:  16 Henry Walker,  17 Guy Toye,  18 Will Haly,  19 Eric White,  20 Miles Churcher,  21 George Clair,  22 Tom Seabrook.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Matt Butler  14 Brad Janes  13 Harry Strong  12 Noah Sixton  11 Harrison Cully 10 James McFarlane  9 Jack Maunder  1 Ollie Dawe  2 Luke Trewhella  3 Billy Keast  4 Kieran Westlake  5 Connor O’Shaughnessy  6 Josh Caulfield  7 Nat Bayet  8 Declan Matthews.

Replacements: 16 Aiden Taylor  17 Jack Stanley  18 Liam Hilliar  19 Angus Brown  20 Nat Bayet  21 Tom Putt  22 Ethan Tyler  23 Aaron Chapman.

Final Tables: