Three games took place in the Aviva A League last night, all in the Southern Conference.
With the terrible flooding in the North, the Northern Conference took a break in its action, but it was all to play for in the South as Harlequins and Saracens maintained their unbeaten records in this year’s A League.
Quins picked up their fourth win from four, this time at home to London Irish A, and they included a number of youngsters in their side, including starts on either wing for Sam Aspland-Robinson and Robbie Nairn, who were playing for England U18 and Scotland U18 respectively last season.
Epsom College leaver Archie White was at number 8, with Bromsgrove leaver Luke White on the bench alongside two current schoolboys, Trinity’s Gabriel Ibitoye, and Cranleigh’s Dino Lamb-Cona.
It was a strong 34-7 win for Quins A, against a London Irish side that included current Wellington College star Matt Williams on the bench as well as hand the captaincy to an Academy member in second row Ollie Curry.
Saracens Storm meanwhile won a thriller against Wasps, 42-36, to stay second in the Southern Conference with three wins from three.
Saracens also took a youthful approach; with Tonbridge School skipper Ben Earl starting at openside. Millfield old boy Tom Whiteley was also handed a start, alongside U20 World Championship winners Hayden Thompson-Stringer, Nick Tompkins, and Nathan Earle.
Wasps A also opted for youth, with schoolboys in Connor Eastgate and Caleb Shepherd both earning starts at fly half and full back respectively. Wellington College leaver Conor Dolan was on the wing, while St Benedict’s star Matt Illube was on the bench.
The final game saw a young Bath United side pick up their first win of the season, at home against Bristol United, 30-17.
Again this was a game packed with youth, perhaps most fascinatingly at fly half, where Millfield’s 2013/14 fly half, Callum Sheedy, started for Bristol, against Millfield’s 2014/15 fly half, Adam Hastings, for Bath.
Another Millfield leaver, Darren Atkins, was one of the try scorers, along with former Bryanston man Max Clark, who started in the centres with his former schoolmate Rory Jennings.
The A League is next in action on Monday 4th January.
Aviva A League Results:
Harlequins A 34-7 London Irish A
Bath United 30-17 Bristol United
Wasps A 36-42 Saracens Storm
Teams:
Harlequins A v London Irish
Harlequins A
15 Charlie Walker 14 Sam Aspland-Robinson 13 Winston Stanley 12 Harry Sloan 11 Robbie Nairn 10 Tim Swiel 9 Tito Tebaldi 1 Owen Evans 2 Joe Gray (c) 3 Adam Jones 4 George Merrick 5 Kieran Treadwell 6 Stan South 7 Beau Robinson 8 Archie White.
Replacements: 16 Seb Adeniran-Olule 17 Rob Buchanan 18 Matt Shields 19 N/A 20 Dino Lamb-Cona 21 Calum Waters 22 Luke White 23 Gabriel Ibitoye.
London Irish A
15 Christian Lewis-Pratt 14 Joe Cokanasiga 13 Dom Waldouck 12 Ross Neal 11 Tom Fowlie 10 Tom Halse 9 Connor Murphy 1 Johnny Harris 2 Tom Cruse 3 Geoff Cross 4 Ollie Curry (c) 5 George Drye 6 Luke Frost 7 Conor Gilsenan 8 David Sisi.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon 17 Harry Elrington 18 Joe Tarrant 10 Theo Vukasinovic 20 Jarod Leat 21 Callum Watson 22 Matt Williams 23 Sam Evans.
Bath United v Bristol United
Bath United
15 Brett Herron 14 Darren Atkins 13 Max Clark 12 Rory Jennings 11 Liam Forsyth 10 Adam Hastings 9 Jonathan Evans 1 Nathan Catt 2 Tom Dunn (c) 3 Kane Palma-Newport 4 Pat Jenkinson 5 Alex Humfrey 6 Levi Douglas 7 Sydney Blackmore 8 Zach Mercer.
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost 17 Beno Obano 18 Jack Edmondson 19 Will Britton 20 Freddie Avis 21 Will Homer 22 Henry Martin 23 Owen Waters.
Bristol United
15 Auguy Slowik 14 George Watkins 13 Tommaso Benvenuti 12 Nick Carpenter (c) 11 Ryan Edwards 10 Callum Sheedy 9 Andy Uren 1 Kyle Traynor 2 James Stephenson 3 David Spellman (Cambridge Uni) 4 Adam Sinclair (Trial) 5 Ben Glynn 6 Sam Jeffreys (Bristol Uni) 7 Max Crumpton 8 Josh Ovens.
Replacements: 16 Ben Compels (Bristol Uni) 17 Jordan Brodley (Clifton RFC) 18 Alex Giltrow (Clifton RFC) 19 John Hawkins 20 Oliver Dunn (Bridgwater RFC) 21 Craig Hampson 22 Sam Katz (Trial) 23 Elias Caven.
Wasps A v Saracens Storm
Wasps A
15 Caleb Shepherd 14 Conor Dolan 13 Brendan Macken 12 James Downey 11 Josh Bassett 10 Connor Eastgate 9 Jamie Stevenson 1 Tom Bristow 2 George Edgson 3 Will Stuart 4 James Cannon (c) 5 Adam Peters 6 Chris Shields 7 Jack Willis 8 Alex Rieder.
Replacements: 16 Lewis Grinsell 17 Tom West 18 Camilo Parilli-Ocampo 19 N/A 20 Scott White 21 Tom Bliss 22 Ollie Brown 23 Matt Illube.
Saracens Storm
15 Ben Ransom 14 Mike Ellery 13 Nick Tompkins 12 Tom Griffiths 11 Nathan Earle 10 Nils Mordt 9 Tom Whiteley 1 Rhys Gill 2 Jared Saunders 3 Kieran Longbottom 4 Jack Tredrea 5 Kennett O’Neill 6 Hayden Thompson-Stringer 7 Ben Earl 8 Samuela Vunisa.
Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki 17 Ralph Adams-Hale 18 Titi Lamositele 19 Danny Cutmore 20 Jack Nay 21 Henry Taylor 22 Baden Kerr 23 Aaron Morris.
