The third round of the U18 Academy League took place on Saturday, with all six matches going ahead, despite so many school games being cancelled due to the weather.

The first two rounds had provided plenty of excitement, and round three certainly proved to be no exception.

Gloucester v Bath

This was arguably the game of the weekend. Gloucester came in having won both of the first games and were therefore favourites against a Bath side who had a draw and a defeat from their opening games. However Bath rubbished that theory with a brilliant performance as the sides shared 79 points, with Bath running out as 41-38 winners in a quite sensational game of rugby.

London Irish v Exeter Chiefs

Unfortunately neither side publicly announced their teams for this fixture, however the game itself was a thriller as it too was decided by just three points. London Irish hosted the game on the back of two straight defeats, but both were by very narrow margins. Exeter, meanwhile, had only played once, a 21-17 win over Bristol. The away side carried on that good form on Saturday with an exciting 24-21 victory over the Exile hosts.

Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons

Northampton Saints had last week off after their stunning opening round destruction of local rivals Leicester Tigers. Newcastle, meanwhile, were beaten by Sale Sharks last week, having lost to Yorkshire Carnegie the week before. It was to be three defeats in a row on Saturday as Northampton Saints put in another excellent performance to secure a 39-19 victory, setting them up nicely in the Northern Conference.

Sale Sharks v Wasps

Sale’s season began with that round 2 37-15 win over Newcastle, while Wasps were two from two having beaten Yorkshire Carnegie and Worcester Warriors. The Coventry side look strong this year, and further enhanced that feeling on Saturday as they picked up a third victory in succession, beating their hosts, who had five Sedbergh pupils in their team, by a 22-12 margin.

Saracens v Harlequins

Having already beaten London Irish 30-21 and Bath 40-5, while Saracens had lost their only game 59-26 to Gloucester, Harlequins were the favourites for this one. That played out, with Harlequins winning 21-14, however it was far from simple. The away side required a try in the final minute of play to secure the victory in what was a brilliantly tense and exciting match.

Yorkshire Carnegie v Worcester Warriors

Both sides arrived for this encounter with the same record, having both won one and lost one of their opening two games. Worcester had lost to Wasps but picked up an excellent 27-26 win over Leciester Tigers, while Yorkshire Carnegie had been beaten by Wasps as well but beaten Newcastle Falcons. Worcester’s defeat to Wasps was by 13 points less than Yorkshire’s, and that slight performance advantage proved significant on Saturday as Worcester beat Yorkshire Carnegie 39-10

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).

Image Credit: Simon Cutting

U18 Academy League Round 3 Results:

Gloucester 38-41 Bath

London Irish 21-24 Exeter Chiefs

Northampton Saints 39-19 Newcastle Falcons

Sale Sharks 12-22 Wasps

Saracens v Harlequins

Yorkshire Carnegie 10-39 Worcester Warriors

U18 Academy League Round 2 Results:

Bristol 17-21 Exeter Chiefs

Harlequins 40-5 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).