Round 3 of the U18 Academy League takes place on Saturday, with six exciting games of rugby.
If the opening two rounds of the competition are anything to go by, this should be another fantastic weekend of U18 Academy League action!
Gloucester v Bath
Gloucester have won both their opening two games, a magnificent 59-26 home win over Saracens, followed by an impressive 43-32 win away at London Irish. Bath’s start has been more tricky, they opened their account with a draw at home to Bristol before suffering a tough 45-5 loss to an inspired Harlequins side last weekend, suggesting that Gloucester will hold the upper hand. Neither side has officially published their teams yet.
London Irish v Exeter Chiefs
Like Gloucester and Bath, neither of these sides have published their teams yet, but we are in for a good game of rugby. London Irish are yet to pick up a win but have played probably the two most in-form sides in the league, having suffered narrow losses to Harlequins and Gloucester. Exeter Chiefs have only played once so far, and it was a good 21-17 win away at Bristol.
Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons
Saints had a week off last week, but in week one they were in stunning form against Leicester Tigers, beating their rivals by a brilliant 41-13 margin. They have picked a hugely exciting side, with the likes of Stowe’s Tosin Segun and Bedford’s Fraser Strachan involved. Newcastle, on the other hand, have played two and lost two. Last week Sale were convincing winners, 37-15, but in Round 1 Newcastle were unlucky to miss out by just five points to Yorkshire Carnegie. Their side looks strong too, with the likes of Will Haydon-Wood at fly half.
Sale Sharks v Wasps
Sale Sharks are led by Manchester Grammar School’s Charlie Pozniak, with plenty of exciting players in their line up, including Sedbergh duo Sam Moore and Cameron Redpath, and Sol Neild at hooker, brother of Sale 1st XV player, Cameron. Their only game so far came last week and was an impressive 37-15 win over Newcastle. Wasps are two from two though, having beaten Worcester Warriors and Yorkshire Carnegie. Once again they pick an exciting looking side, skippered by Merchant Taylors’ Will Porter.
Saracens v Harlequins
This is a huge game, though if early form is a guide, Quins will really fancy their chances having beaten London Irish and then put on a real show against Bath, while Saracens’ only game was a 59-26 loss to Gloucester. The home side are heavily influenced by the impressive Harrow 1st XV, with 6 Harrow players in the starting XV including an all Harrow back row of Andy Christie, Sean Reffell, and Tobias Munday. Harlequins look incredibly exciting too, with Tonbridge skipper George Head, Brighton College skipper Marcus Smith, and Epsom College’s James Gulliver among the many bright young stars in their side. It should be a superb game of rugby at Allianz Park, and one of the few games guaranteed to go ahead, given the artificial surface.
Yorkshire Carnegie v Worcester Warriors
Yorkshire have one win and one loss to their name at the moment, having beaten Newcastle Falcons in the opening round but lost to Wasps last week. This weekend they face a Worcester Warriors side with the same record. They also went down to Wasps, in the opening round, but last week beat Leicester Tigers, 27-26. Yorkshire have picked a similar team to last week, with the exciting Sam Wolstenholme at scrum half and Louis Brown at full back. Worcester Warriors are heaving influenced by NatWest Cup semi finalists Warwick and Bromsgrove, with five Warwick players in the 23 and another five from Bromsgrove, though all the Bromsgrove players start, including England hooker Beck Cutting.
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 3 Fixtures:
Gloucester v Bath
London Irish v Exeter Chiefs
Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons
Sale Sharks v Wasps
Saracens v Harlequins
Yorkshire Carnegie v Worcester Warriors
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:
Gloucester
15 Dunn, 14 Morgan, 13 Seabrook, 12 Davies, 11 Reeves 10 Cole, 9 Chapman, 1 Seville, 2 Haly (c), 3 Knight, 4 JJ Tonks, 5 North, 6 Holliday, 7 Hinkley, 8 Fry.
Replacements: 16 Nelson, 17 O’Malley, 18 Emery/Bartlett, 19 Marshall, 20 Harvey, 21 Boughe, 22 Fenley, 23 Forsythe.
Bath – N/A
London Irish – N/A
Exeter Chiefs – N/A
Northampton Saints
15 Joe Green, 14 Tosin Segun, 13 Fraser Strachan, 12 Sam Cappaert, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 James Grayson, 9 Harry Warn, 1 Joasaia Wacokecoke, 2 Samson Ma’asi, 3 Ehren Painter, 4 Jack West, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Joe Britton, 7 Joe Wallace, 8 Freddie Davies.
Replacements: 16 Luke Riseman, 17 Fraser Thompson, 18 Rhys Charalambous, 19 Jasper Dix, 20 Connor Finch, 21 Finn Creighton, 22 Connor Tupai, 23 Ben Kight.
Newcastle Falcons
15 Kyle Kitney, 14 Morgan Passman, 13 Seb Reece, 12 Charlie Wilson, 11 Fraser McNee, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Cameron Kelemeti, 1 George Martin, 2 Mike Newstead, 3 Tristan Grant, 4 Rob Farrar, 5 Will Montogomery, 6 Josh Gray, 7 Jack Hutchinson, 8 Tom Marshall.
Replacements: 16 Brad Clements, 17 Theo Smith, 18 Reece Amir, 19 Alex Hayton, 20 Jamie Adamson, 21 Joe Pickering, 22 Chidera Obonna, 23 Joshua Hodge.
Sale Sharks
15 Kieran Wilkinson, 14 Arron Reed, 13 Conor Doherty, 12 Luke James, 11 George Chatterton, 10 Cameron Redpath, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Sol 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 Charlie Papworth, 21 Tom Walsh, 22 Alex Burrage, 23 Sam Chadwick.
Wasps
15 Simonds, 14 Atta, 13 Bellis, 12 Spink, 11 Wells, 10 Umaga, 9 Porter (c), 1 Salkeld, 2 Barbeary, 3 Dimen, 4 Ehizode, 5 Adamson, 6 Tunney, 7 Seabrook, 8 Willis.
Replacements: 16 Guthrie, 17 Probyn, 18 Harris, 19 Mawdsley, 20 Pill, 21 Bishop, 22 Pietersen, 23 O’Sullivan.
Saracens
15 Ollie Bluck (New Hall), 14 Chris Annous (Dulwich College), 13 Oli Morris (New Hall), 12 Josh Hallet (New Hall), 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo (Harrow), 10 Manu Vunipola (Harrow), 9 Bryn McCall (Haileybury), 1 Andy Boye (Sir Joseph Williamson’s), 2 Sam Crean (Harrow), 3 Kapeli Pifileit (Haileybury), 4 Cameron Boon (Bishop’s Stortford College), 5 Joel Kpoku (Oaklands College), 6 Andy Christie (Harrow), 7 Sean Reffell (Harrow), 8 Tobias Munday (Harrow).
Harlequins (from)
Forwards
Vincent Everitt (Hartpury College), James Gulliver (Epsom College), George Head (Tonbridge), Luke James (Brighton College), Jack Kenningham (Reeds School), Paul Marshall (Reigate), Blaize Mott (Tonbridge), John Okafor (Wellington College), Henry Paremain (RGS Guildford), Kieran Sassone (Sevenoaks School), Kareem Swandells (St John’s), Callum Tilleray (Wellington College), Hugh Tizard (Guildford County).
Backs
Harry Barlow (Cranleigh), Caolan Englefield (St Paul’s Catholic College), Jake Hennessey (KCS Wimbledon), Jack Johnson (Cranleigh), Josh Jones (Brighton College), Miles McDuffus (Lord Wandsworth College), Tom Nicole (Cranleigh) Marcus Smith (Brighton College), Gareth Stephens (Epsom College).
Yorkshire Carnegie
15 Louis Brown, 14 Rian Hamilton, 13 Jonathan Ashman, 12 Will Fordy, 11 Kieran Wilyman, 10 Harry Davey, 9 Sam Wolstenholme, 1 Billy Nicholls, 2 Will Henshall, 3 Harry Butler, 4 Elliott Ward, 5 Matt Burke, 6 Hugo Tasker, 7 Ben Whyte, 8 Shaun Crouch.
Replacements: 16 Jacques Haddleton, 17 Will Booth, 18 Adam Hopkinson, 19 Tom Williams, 20 Joe Gatus, 21 Ollie Fox, 22 Cail Cookland.
Worcester Warriors
15 Nick David (Warwick School), 14 Christophe Fostier (Bromsgrove School), 13 Ollie Lawrence (Bromsgrove School), 12 Will Butler(Worcester Academy), 11 Alex Bartley (Solihull School), 10 Alex Forrester (Hartpury College), 9 George Wotton (Bromsgrove School), 1 Tom Furnival Worcester Sixth Form College), 2 Beck Cutting (Bromsgrove School), 3 Nick Rigby (Warwick School), 4 Lawrence Weston (Bromsgrove School), 5 James Scott (Malvern College), 6 Ollie Richardson (Warwick School), 7 Charlie Jevons Fellows (The Scots College, Australia), 8 Ted Hill (c) (Worcester Sixth Form College).
Replacements: 16 Cameron Harrison (St John’s College, Zimbabwe), 17 Max Baggs (Cheltenham College), 18 Kai Owen (Telford College of Arts and Technology), 19 Oli Thorneywork (Warwick School), 20 Tom Fawcett (Warwick School), 21 George Hawkes (Solihull School), 22 Louis Jackson (King Edward VI School Stratford), 23 Dion King (King’s School Worcester).
