The U18 Academy League is back in action again on Saturday for Round 2.
Last week saw the opening round of games, which produced some thrilling rugby all around the country. This week should be equally as exciting, though with the temperatures dropping rapidly we can perhaps expect a tighter form of rugby is some fixtures.
Bristol v Exeter Chiefs
Bristol last week drew away at local rivals Bath. This week it is another relatively local game as they host Exeter Chiefs, who are playing in their first game of this season’s Academy League. Both sides name exciting teams, Exeter are led by Exeter College scrum half Joe Snow, while looshead Marcus Smith is a rising star to keep an eye on, like Snow, he has also appeared in the A League. Millfield’s James Dun once again skippers Bristol, whose side is a real mix of AASE players and School players.
Harlequins v Bath
Harlequins won a thriller against London Irish on Friday 23rd December, 30-21. As is their usual way, they have named a squad rather than a starting XV, and contains a host of exciting players, including George Head, the man who led Tonbridge to the NatWest Champions Trophy title, as well as John Okafor and Callum Tilleray, who helped Wellington College to their third Daily Mail Trophy title last term. Quins welcome Bath on Saturday, and the side from the Rec will be hoping to go one better than last weeks draw against Bristol. Millfield’s Rhys Davies moves from the second row to 6, while Will Partington, who scored to secure that draw last week, is again at full back.
London Irish v Gloucester
Neither London Irish nor Gloucester have officially named their sides for Saturday’s game yet, though expect Irish to have plenty of that Wellington College Daily Mail Trophy winning side in their team, as well as plenty of players from AASE side St Paul’s Catholic College as they seek to avenge last week’s loss to Quins. Gloucester will likely be largely made up of players from Hartpury College as they look to build on last week’s fantastic 59-26 victory over Saracens.
Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons
Sale are in action for the first time this season, but have a promising looking side who could go far. Sedbergh’s Cameron Redpath starts at fly half, and the side is skippered by Manchester Grammar School’s Charlie Pozniak. Newcastle Falcons last week went down in a thriller to Yorkshire Carnegie, 34-29, so they will be keen to bounce back quickly. There are a number of exciting players in their line up, including full back Will Haydon-Wood and Scottish Exile Drew Davison.
Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers
Worcester Warriors went down to Wasps last week and face a tricky challenge in the form of Leicester Tigers this weekend. The Tigers, though, had a real struggle last week as they went down heavily to Northampton Saints, 41-13, suggesting that for both sides there will be a real focus to get that first win on the board. Worcester’s side contains a number of NatWest Cup semi finalists, including Bromsgrove’s Christophe Fostier, Ollie Lawrence, Beck Cutting, and Lawrence Weston, and Warwick’s Nick David, Nick Rigby, and Oli Thorneywork. Tigers meanwhile include five Stamford players in their squad, though the side has yet to officially be announced.
Yorkshire Carnegie v Wasps
Both sides picked up good wins last week, with Yorkshire beating Newcastle at Kingston Park, while Wasps were 28-17 winners at home to Worcester Warriors. Wasps are led by Merchant Taylors’ scrum half Will Porter, with Jacob Umaga at fly half and Ehize Ehizode in the second row, Umaga and Ehizode dropping down from the Academy to play the U18 fixture. Yorkshire’s side is also led by their scrum half, Ollie Fox, who will be hoping to lead them to two wins from two.
If you have any photos, videos, or reports from the weekend’s U18 Academy League, please do send them in via email (writers@fifteenrugby.com ), Facebook (www.facebook.com/FifteenRugby ), or via Twitter (@FifteenRugbyXV).
U18 Academy League Round 2 Fixtures:
Bristol v Exeter Chiefs
Harlequins v Bath
London Irish v Gloucester
Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons
Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers
Yorkshire Carnegie v Wasps
U18 Academy League Round 1 Results:
Bath 22-22 Bristol
Gloucester 59-26 Saracens
Harlequins 30-21 London Irish
Newcastle Falcons 29-34 Yorkshire Carnegie
Northampton Saints 41-13 Leicester Tigers
Wasps 28-17 Worcester Warriors
Team News:
Bristol
15 Tom Hargan (Clifton College), 14 Tommy Foot (Hartpury College), 13 Charlie Powell (BGS), 12 Matt Welsh (Clifton College), 11 Lailand Gordan (SGS Filton College), 10 Nathan Chamberlain (SGS Filton College), 9 Sam Perry (Hartpury College), 1 Tom Rowland (BGS), 2 Will Capon (BGS), 3 Nick English (SGS Filton College), 4 Sam Tiley (John Cabot), 5 James Dun (c) (Millfield), 6 George Kloska (SGS Filton College), 7 Sam Taylor (SGS Filton College), 8 Dan Thurston (SGS Filton College).
Replacements: 16 Tom Honour (SGS Filton College), 17 Kieran Wilson (Castle), 18 Ignacio Cortes (Argentina Schools), 19 Ethan Organ (Clifton College), 20 Tomi Adegbite (John Cabot), 21 Dominic Sprague (SGS Filton College), 22 Iwan Hughes (SGS Filton College), 23 Nathan Brooks (Hartpury College).
Exeter Chiefs
15 Tani Naduva, 14 Jake Penprase, 13 Ollie Gibbons, 12 Connor Gilbert, 11 AJ Cant, 10 Joe Elderkin, 9 Joe Snow (c), 1 Marcus Street, 2 Ben Phillips, 3 James Kenny, 4 Joseph Parker Cooke, 5 Lewis Pearson, 6 Max Norey, 7 Richard Capstick, 8 Rusi Tuima.
Replacements: 16 Will Ridout, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Torin Clarke, 20 Will Gibson, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Gwyn Parks, 23 Toby Williams.
Harlequins (from)
Sonny Bryant-Winning (Millfield), Max Coyle (Reigate), Dan Cuthbert (City of London Freemans), Caolan Englefield (St Paul’s Catholic College), Vincent Everitt (Hartpury College), George Eves (RGS Guilford), Jack Glover (Harrow School), James Gulliver (Epsom College), George Hammond (Whitgift), George Head (Tonbridge), Jake Hennessey (KCS Wimbledon), Sunni Jardine (Dulwich College), Miles McDuffus (Lord Wandsworth College), Jacob Morris (Whitgift), Cadan Murley (Bishop Wordsworth School), John Okafor (Wellington College), Henry Paremain (RGS Guildford), Will Sanders (St John’s), Kieran Sassone (Sevenoaks School), Marcus Smith (Brighton College), Gareth Stephens (Epsom College), Kareem Swandells (St John’s), Callum Tilleray (Wellington College).
Bath
15 Will Partington, 14 Miles Gilbert, 13 Will Butt, 12 Tom Elder-Flachi, 11 Callum MacTaggert, 10 Al MacKenzie, 9 Ed Rimmer, 1 George Bamsey, 2 Jack Burnett, 3 Kieran Verden, 4 Tom Jeanes, 5 Oli Cattell, 6 Rhys Davies, 7 Harry Short, 8 George Hobbs.
Replacements: 16 Sam Elrick, 17 Toby Thurston, 18 Simone Elrick, 19 Tom Boxer, 20 Dan Curry, 21 Cameron Brown, 22 Carl Morgan, 23 Luke Mehson.
London Irish – TBA
Gloucester – TBA
Sale Sharks
15 Kieran Wilkinson, 14 Calum Owen, 13 Arron Reed, 12 Luke James, 11 George Chatterton, 10 Cameron Redpath, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Solomon Neild, 3 Monty Weatherby, 4 Charlie Pozniak (c.), 5 Ciaran Booth, 6 Sam Dugdale, 7 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 8 Sam Moore.
Replacements: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 John Blanchard, 18 Abdul Khan, 19 Josef Murphy, 20 Gabriel Johnson-Aley, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Conor Doherty, 23 Tom Walsh.
Newcastle Falcons
15 Will Haydon-Wood, 14 Morgan Passman, 13 Liam Cheeksfield, 12 Charlie Wilson, 11 Shaw Lorimer-Bell, 10 Jake Rodgers, 9 Cameron Kelemeti, 1 Jack Johnson, 2 Brad Clements, 3 Tristan Grant, 4 Josh Gray, 5 Will Montgomery, 6 Jack Hutchinson, 7 Drew Davison, 8 Tom Marshall.
Replacements: 16 Mike Newstead, 17 Reece Amir, 18 Euan Duncan, 19 Alex Hayton, 20 Will Hill, 21 Alex Pantechis, 22 Seb Reece, 23 Fraser McNee.
Worcester Warriors
15 Nick David (Warwick), 14 Christophe Fostier (Bromsgrove), 13 Alex Bartley (Solihull), 12 Ollie Lawrence (Bromsgrove), 11 Alex Haselock (Worcester Sixth Form College), 10 Alex Forrester (Hartpury College), 9 George Hawkes (Solihull), 1 Nick Rigby (Warwick), 2 Beck Cutting (Bromsgrove), 3 Kai Owen (Telford College of Arts and Technology), 4 Lawrence Weston (Bromsgrove), 5 James Scott (Malvern College), 6 Ollie Richardson (Warwick), 7 Oli Thorneywork (Warwick), 8 Ted Hill (C) (Worcester Sixth Form College).
Replacements: 16 Cameron Harrison (St John’s College, Zimbabwe), 17 Will Sutton (Worcester Sixth Form College), 18 Max Baggs (Cheltenham College), 19 Tom Fawcett (Warwick), 20 George Butler (Hereford Cathedral School), 21 Tom Williams (Bromsgrove), 22 Louis Jackson (KES Stratford), 23 Dion King (King’s Worcester).
Leicester Tigers – TBA
Yorkshire Carnegie
15 Louis Brown, 14 Rian Hamilton, 13 Jonathan Ashman, 12 Tom Mann, 11 Jack Bodman, 10 Harry Davey, 9 Ollie Fox (c), 1 Billy Nicholls, 2 Will Henshall, 3 Harry Butler, 4 Shaun Crouch, 5 Matt Burke, 6 Elliott Ward, 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Ben Whyte.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Gibson, 17 Adam Leetham, 18 Will Booth, 19 Tom Williams, 20 Hugo Tasker, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Will Fordy, 23 Joe Gatus.
Wasps
15 Simonds, 14 Atta, 13 Bellis, 12 Spink, 11 Clark, 10 Umaga, 9 Porter (c), 1 Probyn, 2 Barbeary, 3 Dimen, 4 Ehizode, 5 Tunney, 6 Mawdsley, 7 Seabrook, 8 Willis.
Replacements: 16 Clarkson, 17 Salkeld, 18 Harris, 19 Adamson, 20 Pill, 21 Bishop, 22 Taylor, 23 Wells.
