The Aviva A League resumes again this evening with two games taking place.
Originally three games were set to take place, however Bristol United v Saracens Storm has had to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Clifton RFC.
That leaves Exeter Braves v Wasps A and London Irish A v Bath United as the two remaining fixtures this evening, once they, and the rescheduled Bristol game, are completed, there will be just three A League games left for the season, the two semi finals, and the final.
Northampton Wanderers have already secured a home semi final as the winners of the Northern Conference, and will play second in the South, while second in the North, Newcastle Falcons A, will play the Southern winners.
At the moment Saracens look the favourites for top spot in the south, they are two points clear of both Exeter Braves and Harlequins, and Quins have played all of their games.
A win for Exeter tonight over Wasps would put the pressure on Saracens though as it would, at least until Saracens play, put Exeter ahead. Nobody can catch those two though, unless Wasps put a near impossible score on Exeter tonight, allowing Harlequins to sneak through on points difference – it would be extraordinary though.
The other game this evening, London Irish v Bath United, is a bit of a dead rubber, though with Irish yet to win a game, they will feel that this is a huge opportunity to make sure that they do not go through the season without a win.
There is plenty of youth on all fronts this evening, including a number of current schoolboys St Benedict’s lock Ehize Ehizode starts for Waps, with Henley College’s Connor Eastgate on the bench. England U18 wing Joe Cockanasiga starts for London Irish, with Wellington College’s Isaac Curtis Harris at number 8, his schoolmate Ben Loader is on the bench.
Another England U18 international, Denstone College’s Levi Davies, starts on the wing for Bath, Will Millfield’s Josh Bayliss on the bench, and his U17 schoolmate Cameron Brown alongside him.
Prior to their postponement, Bristol also had a number of schoolboys in their side, including Dan Powell at full back, with Millfield’s Josh Barton and Christ College’s James Newey on the bench.
Aviva A League Fixtures:
Exeter Braves v Wasps A – Sandy Park
London Irish A v Bath United – Hazelwood
Bristol United v Saracens Storm – POSTPONED (Waterlogged pitch)
Semi Finals – Monday 25th April
Final – Monday 2nd May
| Aviva A League Southern Conference Table | |||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | BP | Points |
| 1 | Saracens Storm | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 |
| 2 | Exeter Braves | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 20 |
| 3 | Harlequins A | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
| 4 | Wasps | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| 5 | Bath United | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 6 | Bristol United | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | London Irish | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Team News:
Exeter Braves
15 Chrysander Botha 14 Max Bodilly 13 Pete Laverick 12 Tom Hendrickson 11 Matt Jess 10 Will Hooley 9 Haydn Thomas 1 Brett Sturgess 2 Elvis Taione 3 Jack Owlett 4 Lewis Stevenson 5 Sam Skinner 6 Tom Johnson 7 Ben White 8 Kai Horstmann (c).
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton 17 Jake Woolmore 18 Elliott Roofe 19 Ed Holmes 20 Sam Simmonds 21 Stu Townsend 22 Ted Landry 23 Harrison Cully.
Wasps
15 Josh Bassett 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau 13 Ben Jacobs 12 James Downey 11 Brendan Macken 10 Alex Lozowski 9 Craig Hampson 1 Alex Lundberg 2 Edd Shervington 3 Phil Swainston 4 Marcus Garrett 5 Ehize Ehizode 6 Sam Jones 7 Jack Willis 8 Guy Thompson.
Replacements: 16 George Edgson 17 Tom West 18 Cecil McCarthy 19 Tom Willis 20 Will Wilson 21 Jamie Stevenson 22 Connor Eastgate 23 Owain James.
London Irish
15 Christian Lewis-Pratt 14 Ollie Hassell-Collins 13 Tom Farrell 12 Ross Neal 11 Joe Cokanasiga 10 Tom Halse 9 Callum Watson 1 Johnny Harris 2 Jimmy Stevens 3 Geoff Cross 4 Ollie Curry 5 Charlie Davey 6 Tom Preece 7 Luke Frost 8 Isaac Curtis-Harris.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon 17 Harry Elrington 18 Sam Nixon 19 Theo Vukasinovic 20 Austin Hay 21 Ben Loader 22 Jacob Atkins 23 Dan Grant.
Bath United
15 Darren Atkins 14 Levi Davies 13 Liam Forsyth 12 Adam Hastings 11 Jeff Williams 10 Laurence May 9 Jonathan Evans 1 Beno Obano 2 Dan Frost 3 Kane Palma-Newport (c) 4 Alex Humfrey 5 Pat Jenkinson 6 Levi Douglas 7 Max Northcote-Green 8 Zach Mercer.
Replacements: 16 Billy Harding 17 Will Vaughan 18 Jack Edmondson 19 Will Britton 20 Josh Bayliss 21 Will Homer 22 Henry Martin 23 Cameron Brown.
Bristol United (Prior to postponement)
15 Dan Powell (Academy U18s/Exmouth RFC) 14 Mark Harrison (Hartpury) 13 Charlie Esam (Bristol Uni) 12 Will Sharratt (Bristol Uni) 11 Auguy Slowik 10 Callum Sheedy 9 Andy Uren 1 Alec Cleary (Hartpury) 2 Max Crumpton 3 James Hall 4 Sam Jeffries 5 Glen Townson (c) 6 Max Cresswell 7 James Stephenson 8 James Phillips.
Replacements: 16 Jordan Brodley (Bristol Uni) 17 Alfie Barron (Hartpury) 18 Jack Davies (Bath Uni) 19 Kemp Price (UWE) 20 David Watchorn (Bristol Uni) 21 Josh Barton (Academy U18s/Millfield) 22 James Newey (Academy U18s/Christ College) 23 Jonny Goodridge.
