This weekend is Round 6 in the U18 Academy League, though for most of the teams this will be their fifth game of the campaign.
For Worcester Warriors and London Irish, this will be their final fixture of the league section of the campaign before finals day later in the month.
Northern Conference
Wasps are top of the pile and have one game left to play, they have a bye week this weekend though, offering a valuable chance for the chasing pack to catch them.
Worcester Warriors travel to Newcastle Falcons for their last game of the campaign, knowing that a bonus point win would see them, even if perhaps only temporarily, above Wasps. Worcester have every reason to feel confident having secured some big wins and with a side packed with real schoolboy talent, NatWest Cup semi finalists Warwick and Bromsgrove make up much of their side. Last week however they lost heavily to Sale Sharks, which will have given their confidence a knock, but Newcastle are yet to pick up a win despite the talents of the likes of Passman, Marshall, and Kitney. Worcester, incidentally, are skippered by number 8 Ted Hill, a member of the England U20 squad despite till being at Worcester 6th form College.
The big battle in the North though is Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks, 2nd v 4th. Saints are four points off the top, with Sale just a point behind them, and while Saints may have the position, Sale surely have the confidence. Sale beat Worcester 27-0 last week away from home, and their side is packed with players from two of the very best school sides in the country last term, Kirkham Grammar and Sedbergh. Saints also secured a big win last week and with players like Tosin Segun and the two Fraser’s, Strachan and Dingwall, in their side, among others, they have much to be excited about. However perhaps they key to look here is their result a fortnight ago, a 43-16 away loss to Worcester, which suggests that Sale might just have the edge.
The third game in the Northern Conference sees Leicester Tigers host Yorkshire Carnegie. Tigers had a torrid start to the campaign but then sprung a shock last week by beating Wasps, albeit a Wasps side without their first choice half backs. That win lifted them away from the bottom and above Yorkshire, whose only win was over Newcastle in the opening round. Yorkshire will hope to claim a second scalp on Saturday, with scrum half and captain Oli Fox leading the charge.
Southern Conference
Harlequins and Exeter Chiefs are the runaway leaders in the South, both are unbeaten with Quins leading the table on 19 points. Exeter are just a point behind, while third place Gloucester are a further five behind.
Harlequins travel to Gloucester on Sunday for their game, and following a 55-12 win over Bristol last week they will be full of confidence. Their side, featuring three Cranleigh players, looks incredibly strong and features some of the top players in the country. Gloucester have plenty of strength too though, and while they have won as many as they have lost, they have a proven ability to score tries.
Exeter Chiefs’ challenge is also on Sunday as they host Saracens. Saracens got off to a tough start, losing to Gloucester and Quins heavily but they have bounced back since. Last week they won a thriller against London Irish, but Exeter won their own thriller away at Bath, 35-28. It suggests that this should be another game with plenty of tries, and with a lot to play for, particularly for Exeter, a better result than Quins should see them leapfrog the London side.
The South’s action begins on Saturday when London Irish host Bristol. For Irish it is their final game of the campaign, and it could be crucial, they do not want Bristol to leapfrog them, leaving them bottom and unable to do anything about it. Irish have just the one win to their name, a last minute effort against Bath a few weeks ago, while Bristol are without a win, their best result being a draw with Bath.
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).
Photo via John Hennessy
U18 Academy League Round 6 Fixtures:
Saturday
Leicester Tigers v Yorkshire Carnegie
London Irish v Bristol
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
Newcastle Falcons v Worcester Warriors
Sunday
Exeter Chiefs v Saracens
Gloucester v Harlequins
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 |
Team News:
Leicester Tigers – TBA
Yorkshire Carnegie
15 Louis Brown, 14 Rian Hamilton, 13 Will Fordy, 12 Sam Brooke, 11 Joe Gatus, 10 Harry Davey, 9 Oli Fox (c), 1 Billy Nicholls, 2 Ollie Rayner, 3 Will Booth, 4 Elliot Ward, 5 Adam Hopkinson, 6 Max Hanson, 7 Hugo Tasker, 8 Tom Williams.
Replacements: 16 Jacques Haddleton, 17 Ed Martin, 18 Peri Michael, 19 Ryan Gibson, 20 Edan Kelly, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Morgan Bunting, 23 George Bastow.
London Irish
15 Connor Burns, 14 Ronan Maloney, 13 Inya Rarawa, 12 Rory McMichael, 11 Jack Jesty, 10 Russell Bennett, 9 Harry Delaney, 1 Ben Connor , 2 Callum Torpey, 3 Jamie Henson, 4 Ben Donnell, 5 Harry Butler, 6 Elliot Quinton, 7 Henry Fuller, 8 Josh Basham.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Barrett, 17 Sam Drayson, 18 Joe Toguri, 19 Max Ayling, 20 Josh Smart, 21 Sam Bridges, 22 Reuben Knight, 23 Oscar Blanchard.
Bristol
15 Iwan Hughes (SGS Filton), 14 Lailand Gordon (SGS Filton), 13 Josh Wright (Millfield) 12 Sol Hutchings (Clifton College), 11 Tom Hargan (Clifton College), 10.Sam Perry (Hartpury), 9 Blake Boyland (Colston’s), 1 Kieran Wilson (Castle), 2 Will Capon (BGS), 3 Nick English (SGS Filton), 4 Rami James (SGS Filton), 5 James Dun (c) (Millfield), 6 Nick Freeman (Clifton College), 7 Sam Tiley (John Cabot), 8 George Kloska (SGS Filton).
Replacements: 16 Stirling Cranham (BGS), 17 Ignacio Cortes (Argentina Schools), 18 Ned Smith (BGS), 19 Ethan Organ (Clifton College), 20 Tomi Adegbite (Bristol Brunel), 21 Ollie Nicholas (Clifton College), 22 Nathan Chamberlain (SGS Filton), 23 Tommy Foot (Hartpury).
Sale Sharks
15 Calum Owen, 14 Arron Reed, 13 Conor Doherty, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Tom Walsh, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 Matt Sturgess, 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Nic Dolly, 3 Monty Weatherby, 4 Josef Murphy, 5 Ciaran Booth, 6 Charlie Papworth, 7 Luke James, 8 Sam Dugdale.
Replacements: 16 Sol Neild, 17 John Blanchard, 18 Jack Granby, 19 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 20 Rouban Birch, 21 Kieran Dunne, 22 Sam Chinomona.
Northampton Saints
15 Joe Green, 14 Tosin Segun, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Fraser Strachan, 11 Ollie Slightholme, 10 James Grayson, 9 Harry Warn, 1 Rhys Charalambous, 2 Samson Ma’asi, 3 Ehren Painter, 4 Jasper Dix, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Freddie Davies, 7 Joe Britton, 8 Devante Onojaife.
Replacements: 16 George Seward, 17 Luke Risman, 18 Jack West, 19 Connor Finch, 20 Joe Wallace, 21 Finn Creighton, 22 Connor Tupai, 23 Sam Cappeart.
Newcastle Falcons
15 Morgan Passman, 14 Josh Hodge, 13 Kyle Kitney, 12 Josh Watson, 11 Fraser McNee, 10 Jake Rogers, 9 Cameron Kelemeti, 1 Jack Johnson, 2 Mike Newstead, 3 Tristan Grant, 4 Alex Hayton, 5 Will Montgomery, 6 Rob Farrer, 7 Ben Walton, 8 Tom Marshall.
Replacements: 16 Brad Clements, 17 Isaac Brace, 18 Reece Amir, 19 Josh Gray, 20 Jamie Adamson, 21 Alex Pantechis, 22 Joe Pickering, 23 Seb Reece.
Worcester Warriors
15 Jake Leonard (Worcester 6th Form College), 14 Alex Bartley (Solihull), 13 Dion King (King’s Worcester), 12 Oliver Lawrence (Bromsgrove), 11 Christophe Fostier (Bromsgrove), 10 Alex Forrester (Hartpury College), 9 George Wootten (Bromsgrove), 1 Tom Furnival (Worcester 6th Form College), 2 Beck Cutting (Bromsgrove), 3 Nick Rigby (Warwick), 4 Lawrence Weston (Bromsgrove), 5 James Scott (Malvern College), 6 Tom Fawcett (Warwick), 7 Charlie Jevons-Fellows (The Scots College, Australia), 8 Ted Hill (c) (Worcester 6th Form College).
Replacements: 16 Cameron Harrison (St John’s College, Zimbabwe), 17 Will Sutton (Worcester 6th Form College), 18 Kai Owen (Telford College of Arts & Technology), 19 Owen Davis (King’s Worcester), 20 Oli Thorneywork (Warwick), 21 George Hawkes (Solihull), 22 Lewis Dorey (Worcester 6th Form College), 23 Rob Lester (Worcester 6th Form College).
Exeter Chiefs – TBA
Saracens – TBA
Gloucester
15 Dunn, 14 Morgan, 13 Seabrook 12. Cole (c), 11 Reeves, 10 Penny, 9 Chapman, 1 O’Malley, 2 Walker, 3 Bartlett, 4 Bennion, 5 Allen, 6 North, 7 Tonks, 8 Hinkley.
Replacements: 16 A Seville, 17 Haly, 18 E Seville; 19 Holliday, 20 Watts, 21 Terry, 22 Fenley, 23 Stanton.
Harlequins (from)
Forwards George Head (Tonbridge), Jacob Morris (Whitgift), Callum Tilleray (Wellington College), Blaize Mott (Tonbridge), Kieran Sassone (Sevenoaks), Kareem Swandells (St John’s), Hugh Tizard (Cranleigh), Henry Paremain (RGS Guildford), John Okafor (Wellington College), Jack Glover (Harrow), Vincent Everitt (Hartpury College), Dan Cuthbert (City of London Freemans), Luke James (Brighton College).
Backs Tom Nicole (Cranleigh), Caolan Englefield (St Paul’s, Sunbury), Marcus Smith (Brighton College), Harry Barlow (Cranleigh), Sunni Jardine (Dulwich College), Jake Hennessey (KCS Wimbledon), Will Sanders (St John’s), Cadan Murley (Bishop Wordsworth), Miles McDuffus (Lord Wandsworth College), Max Coyle (Reigate).
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