It is Round 5 in the U18 Academy League this weekend, with six fixtures spread across the three days.

Last weekend saw some impressive results, and it looks like there will be some exciting fixtures this weekend.

Friday

Saracens v London Irish

Friday has just the one game, Saracens v London Irish in the Southern Conference. Saracens picked up their first win of the campaign last week, a brilliant 59-21 effort away at Bristol. In took them above London Irish, to fifth in the table, despite the Exiles sneaking a last minute win away at Bath. Favourable results elsewhere for these two this weekend could see them start to challenge the upper end of the table, rather than the lower end.

Saturday

Bath v Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs’ 34-26 win over Gloucester saw them rise to second in the table, just a point behind the league leaders, Harlequins. Bath meanwhile are in fourth with a win, a draw, and two defeat from their four games so far. A win for Exeter could help them to put some real distance between them and Gloucester, who sit level on points with them in third but have their weekend off this week.

Harlequins v Bristol

As mentioned, Bristol top the table by a point fro Exeter, with three wins from three. They will be looking to at minimum maintain that advantage at home to Bristol, though they will need to make sure that they are straight back into the swing of things after a week off. Bristol meanwhile will desperately want to get back to form after a tough loss at home to Saracens last week. Without a win to their name yet, they are now bottom of the table, and will be desperate to rise. A game against the league leaders is not the ideal one to start that recovery from though.

Leicester Tigers v Wasps

Moving into the Northern Conference, Leicester Tigers face a huge challenge as they host league leaders Wasps. Tigers have had a poor start to the campaign, losing all three of their games, including a 29-19 home defeat to Sale last week. They are level on points with Newcastle Falcons at the foot of the table, and desperate for form. Wasps are a truly tough opponent though, they have won three from three, beating Yorkshire Carnegie, Sale Sharks, and a thumping 30-3 win over Newcastle last weekend.

Northampton Saints v Yorkshire Carnegie

Saints currently sit third in the table, behind Worcester Warriors in second. Worcester have them a strong beating last week, so the East Midlands side will be fired up to respond in style this weekend, particularly at home. Yorkshire Carnegie have had a decent start to the year though, with a win away at Newcastle Falcons to their name. A bonus point win would draw them level with Saints on points.

Sunday

Worcester Warriors v Sale Sharks

Worcester’s stunning win over Northampton Saints last weekend saw them move firmly into second. A big win on Saturday, couple with a Wasps defeat, could see them top the table. They will fancy their chances against Sale, but the Sharks are performing well this season. They currently sit in fourth, level with Saints in third, and will be full of confidence after a strong away win at Leicester Tigers last weekend.

Another exciting weekend of U18 Academy League action awaits!

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 5 Fixtures:

Friday

Saracens v London Irish

Saturday

Bath v Exeter Chiefs

Harlequins v Bristol

Leicester Tigers v Wasps

Northampton Saints v Yorkshire Carnegie

Sunday

Worcester Warriors v Sale Sharks

U18 Academy League Round 4 Results:

Bath 19-20 London Irish

Bristol 21-59 Saracens

Exeter Chiefs 34-26 Gloucester

Leicester Tigers 19-29 Sale Sharks

Wasps 30-3 Newcastle Falcons

Worcester Warriors 43-16 Northampton Saints

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

Saracens

15 Elliot Obatoyinbo, 14 Chris Annous, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Josh Hallett, 11 David Jimoh, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Bryn McCall, 1 Kapeli Pifeleti, 2 Sam Crean, 3 Andrew Boye, 4 Cameron Boon, 5 Joel Kpoku, 6 Andy Christie, 7 Sean Reffel (c), 8 Tobias Munday.

Replacements: 16 Billy Young, 17 Elliot White, 18 Edward Thompson, 19 Alfie Scopes, 20 Oscar Furneaux, 21 Matteo Petrozzi, 22 Ollie Buck, 23 Joe Hall.

London Irish

15 Ben Loader, 14 Ronan Maloney, 13 Fergus Guiry, 12 Jacob Webb, 11 Connor Burns, 10 Russell Bennett, 9 Harry Delaney, 1 Ben Connor, 2 Callum Torpey, 3 Brandon Baker, 4 Ben Donnell, 5 Harry Butler, 6 Elliot Quinton, 7 Henry Fuller, 8 Josh Basham.

Replacements: 16 Jimmy Barrett, 17 Jamie Henson, 18 Joe Toguri, 19 Max Ayling, 20 Josh Smart, 21 Archie Dunhill, 22 Reuben Knight, 23 Dan Stoller/Jack Jesty.

Bath – TBA

Exeter Chiefs – TBA

Harlequins (from)

Forwards

George Head (Tonbridge), Jacob Morris (Whitgift), Paul Marshall (Reigate), Kareem Swandells (St John’s), Kieran Sassone (Sevenoaks School), Blaize Mott (Tonbridge), John Okafor (Wellington College), Henry Paremain (RGS Guildford), Tom Davison (St.John’s), Luke James (Brighton College), Hugh Tizard (Cranleigh), Vincent Everitt (Hartpury College), Dan Cuthbert (City of London Freemans).

Backs

Sonny Jardine (Dulwich College), Marcus Smith (Brighton College), Max Coyle (Reigate), Jake Hennessey (KCS Wimbledon), Josh Jones (Brighton College), Tom Nicole (Cranleigh), Lennox Anyanwu (Christs Hospital), Cadan Murley (Bishops Wordsworth), Jonny Searle (Brighton College) and George Eves (RGS Guildford).

Bristol – TBA

Leicester Tigers – TBA

Wasps – TBA

Northampton Saints

15 Joe Green, 14 Tosin Segun, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Fraser Strachan, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Connor Tupai, 9 Harry Warn, 1 Rhys Charalambous, 2 Luke Risman, 3 Ehren Painter, 4 Jasper Dix, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Freddie Davies, 7 Joe Britton, 8 Devante Onojaife.

Replacements: 16 Samson Ma’asi, 17 Josaia Wacokecoke, 18 Jack West, 19 Connor Finch, 20 Joe Wallace, 21 Finn Creighton, 22 James Grayson, 23 Sam Cappeart.

Yorkshire Carnegie

15 Tom Mann, 14 Rian Hamilton, 13 Jonny Ashman, 12 Will Fordy, 11 Joe Gatus, 10 Harry Davey, 9 Oli Fox (c), 1 Billy Nicholls, 2 Will Henshall, 3 Will Booth, 4 Shaun Crouch, 5 Matt Burke, 6 Ben Whyte, 7 Lewis Wilson, 8 Elliot Ward.

Replacements: 16 Oli Rayner, 17 Pieris Michael, 18 Ed Martin, 19 Hugo Tasker, 20 Tom Williams, 21 Morgan Bunting, 22 Cail Cookland, 23 Jack Bodman.

Worcester Warriors

15 Alex Forrester (Hartpury College), 14 Alex Bartley (Solihull), 13 Dion King (King’s Worcester), 12 Ollie Lawrence (Bromsgrove), 11 Christophe Fostier (Bromsgrove), 10 Louis Jackson (KES Stratford), 9 George Wootten (Bromsgrove), 1 Tom Furnival (Worcester 6^th Form College), 2 Cameron Harrison (St John’s College, Zimbabwe) , 3 Nick Rigby (Warwick), 4 Lawrence Weston (Bromsgrove), 5 James Scott (Malvern College), 6 Tom Fawcett (Warwick), 7 Charlie Jeavons-Fellows (Scots College, Australia), 8 Ted Hill (c) (Worcester 6^th Form College).

Replacements: 16 Beck Cutting (Bromsgrove), 17 Max Baggs (Cheltenham College), 18 Will Sutton (Worcester 6^th Form College), 19 George Butler (Hereford Cathedral School), 20 Oli Thorneywork (Warwick), 21 George Hawkes (Solihull), 22 Jake Leonard (Worcester 6^th Form College), 23 Rob Lester (Worcester 6^th Form College).

Sale Sharks

15 Cameron Redpath, 14 Arron Reed, 13 Conor Doherty, 12 Luke James, 11 Calum Owen, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 John Blanchard, 2 Nic Dolly, 3 Monty Weatherby, 4 Josef Murphy, 5 Jack Granby, 6 Ciaran Booth, 7 Charlie Papworth, 8 Sam Dugdale.

Replacements: 16 Sol Neild, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Abdul Khan, 19 Connor James, 20 Rouban Birch, 21 Tom Walsh, 22 Kieran Dunne, 23 Sam Chadwick.