Round Two of the U18 Academy League took place on Saturday, and once again it saw some extraordinary rugby being played by some of the stars of the future.
Round one had been fascinating in the lead up to the New Year, but if anything Round 2 may have been even more exciting.
Exeter Chiefs were playing their first game of the competition this year, having had a bye in round 1. They travelled to Bristol, whose opening round result had been a draw at local rivals Bath. This game was almost as close, but two late penalties saw Exeter claim a 21-17 victory.
Harlequins had opened their account with an impressive 30-21 win against London Irish. They were even better on Saturday though, as they beat Bath by a stunning 45-5 margin, with Reigate Grammar School’s Max Coyle scoring a hat-trick.
Gloucester were another side to make it two wins from two, they beat Saracens in style last week, 59-26, and on Saturday they picked up another high scoring win, beating London Irish 43-32 away from home.
In the Northern Conference Sale Sharks opened their account with a brilliant 37-15 win over Newcastle Falcons, condemning the Kingston Park side to a second defeat in a row.
Worcester Warriors picked up a brilliant win over Leicester Tigers. It was a tight and thrilling game, but the home side just edged it 27-26, to make up for their defeat to Wasps last week. For Leicester it was a disappointing second defeat in a row.
Over at Yorkshire Carnegie, the home side could not build on last week’s win over Newcastle Falcons as they fell to a 38-14 defeat to the highly impressive Wasps U18 side.
Next week sees Saracens and Northampton Saints return from their bye weeks, they face Harlequins and Newcastle Falcons respectively. Yorkshire Carnegie host Worcester Warriors, with London Irish hosting Exeter Chiefs. Meanwhile Gloucester host Bath and Wasps travel to Sale Sharks. Leicester Tigers and Bristol both have bye weeks.
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 Results:
Bristol 17-21 Exeter Chiefs
Harlequins 45-5 Bath
London Irish 32-43 Gloucester
Sale Sharks 37-15 Newcastle Falcons
Worcester Warriors 27-26 Leicester Tigers
Yorkshire Carnegie 14-38 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
15 Ollie Hassle-Collins, 14 Rory McMichael, 13 Fergus Guiry, 12 Jacob Webb, 11 Connor Burns, 10 Tom Smith, 9 Harry Delaney, 1 Sam Drayson, 2 Mua Inoke, 3 Brandon Baker, 4 Ben Donnell, 5 Harry Buttler, 6 Eliot Quinton, 7 Cam Hyne, 8 Josh Basham (c).
Replacements: 16 James Barrett, 17 Ben Connor, 18 Joe Toguri, 19 Ben Atkins, 20 Henry Fuller, 21 Freddie Mackennes, 22 Russ Bennett, 23 Ben Harris.
Gloucester
15 Dunn, 14 Morgan, 13 Seabrook, 12 Davies, 11 Biss, 10 Cole, 9 Chapman, 1 Seville, 2 Haly (c), 3 Knight, 4 Dyke, 5 Allen, 6 Tonks, 7 Hinkley, 8 Fry.
Replacements: 16 Nelson, 17 Omalley, 18 Bartlett, 19 North, 20 Bennion, 21 Holiday, 22 Morris, 23 Fenley, 24 Forsyth, 25 Terry, 26 Marshall.
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 – N/A
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.
