Round 5 of the U18 Academy League brought some stunning results as the competition saw a bit of a positional shake up.
Six games took place across the weekend, with plenty of entertainment in each game across both confrences.
Northern Conference
The big result in the Northern Conference saw the unbeaten Wasps go down 31-5 to a Leicester Tigers side. The big win puts Leicester up from sixth to fifth, while Wasps stay top, but by a smaller margin that before.
Northampton Saints moved into second place, up from third, leapfrogging Worcester Warriors, who beat Saints strongly last week. Saints were on fine form this weekend though, beating Yorkshire Carnegie 43-19.
It was a different story for Worcester Warriors, they were so impressive last week but on Saturday they came back down to earth hard as Sale Sharks beat them by a strong 27-0 margin. That win keep Sale in fourth but means that they are just a points behind Northampton and Worcester in second and third, while they are just a bonus point win behind Wasps at the top of the table.
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference went slightly more according to form. Pace setters Harlequins were once again in top class form as they beat bottom club Bristol by a brilliant 55-12 margin.
They are being pushed all the way by Exeter Chiefs though. The Chiefs are also unbeaten and are just a point behind Quins following their 35-28 victory over Bath at Millfield School.
Saracens shot up the table to fourth having beaten London Irish in a thriller at Allianz Park. The two sides shared sixty-nine points, with the home side running out as 38-31 victors.
There are just two more rounds left in the league stage of the U18 Academy League, though Wasps, Worcester, Bath, and London Irish have just one more round of games before finals day.
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 Results:
Bath 28-35 Exeter Chiefs
Harlequins 55-12 Bristol
Leicester Tigers 31-5 Wasps
Northampton Saints 43-19 Yorkshire Carnegie
Saracens 38-31 London Irish
Worcester Warriors 0-27 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
| U18 Academy League Standings – Northern Conference | |||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | BP | Points |
| 1 | Wasps | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 19 |
| 2 | Northampton Saints | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | Worcester Warriors | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | Sale Sharks | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| 5 | Leicester Tigers | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Yorkshire Carnegie | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | Newcastle Falcons | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| U18 Academy League Standings – Southern Conference | |||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | BP | Points |
| 1 | Harlequins | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 |
| 2 | Exeter Chiefs | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| 3 | Gloucester | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 4 | Saracens | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | Bath | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 6 | London Irish | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | Bristol | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
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 – N/A
Exeter Chiefs
15 Finn Marks, 14 Jake Penprase, 13 Ollie Gibbon, 12 Joe Elderkin, 11 AJ Cant, 10 Gwyn Parks, 9 Sam Maunder (c), 1 James Kenny, 2 Ben Phillips, 3 Marcus Street, 4 Joseph Parker Cooke, 5 Torin Clarke, 6 Will Gibson, 7 Richard Capstick, 8 Rusi Tuima.
Replacements: 16 Will Ridout, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Hugo Culverhouse, 20 Tom Brooker, 21 Toby Williams, 22 Connor Gilbert, 23 Tani Naduva.
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
15 Iwan Hughes (SGS Filton), 14 Lailand Gordon (SGS Filton College), 13 Matt Welsh (Clifton College), 12 Josh Wright (Millfield), 11 Tom Hargan (Clifton College), 10 Alex Walder (Backwell), 9 Blake Boyland (Colston’s), 1 Kieran Wilson (Castle), 2 Nick Freeman (Clifton College), 3 Stirling Cranham (SGS Filton College), 4 Sam Tiley (John Cabot), 5 Rami James (SGS Filton College), 6 Ethan Organ (Clifton College), 7 Sam Taylor (SGS Filton College), 8 Dan Thurston (SGS Filton College).
Replacements: 16 Will Capon (Bristol Grammar), 17 Tom Rowland (Bristol Grammar), 18 Nick English (SGS Filton College), 19 James Dun (Millfield), 20 Ned Smith (Bristol Grammar), 21 Ollie Nicholas (Clifton College), 22 Nathan Chamberlain (SGS Filton College), 23 Tommy Foot (Hartpury College).
Leicester Tigers
15 Ollie Russell, 14 Ryan Olowofela, 13 Sam Yawayawa, 12 Sam Wager, 11 Zack Godfrey, 10 Tom Hardwick, 9 Will Findlay, 1 Oscar Harper, 2 Jack Dickinson, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Josh Fenner, 5 Cameron Jordan, 6 Henri Lavin, 7 Tommy Reffell (c), 8 Sam Grahamslaw.
Replacements: 16 Tom Greatorex-Sanderson, 17 Mason Coulam, 18 Joe Latham, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Thom Smith, 21 Seb Davies, 22 Jacob Fewtrell, 23 Chaz Dixon.
Wasps
15 Matt Wells, 14 Taju Atta, 13 Murray Bellis, 12 Sam Spink, 11 Brendan Clarke, 10 Finn Pietersen, 9 Tom Bishop, 1 Tom Probyn, 2 Alfie Barbeary, 3 Joe Salkeld, 4 Harry Sayer, 5 Joe Tunney, 6 Alfie Mandsley, 7 James Seabrook, 8 Tom Guthrie.
Replacements: 16 Paddy Ryan, 17 Osman Dimen, 18 Jarod Leat, 19 Frazer Kiff, 20 Silas Pill, 21 Kristian Kay, 22 Mike Taylor, 23 Aaron O’Sullivan.
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 6th 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 6th Form College).
Replacements: 16 Beck Cutting (Bromsgrove), 17 Max Baggs (Cheltenham College), 18 Will Sutton (Worcester 6th Form College), 19 George Butler (Hereford Cathedral School), 20 Oli Thorneywork (Warwick), 21 George Hawkes (Solihull), 22 Jake Leonard (Worcester 6th Form College), 23 Rob Lester (Worcester 6th 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.
