The first round of the U18 Academy League continues this week with the three remaining fixtures.
Over the weekend Saracens were defeated by Gloucester 34-31 in the only game in the Southern Conference, while in the Northern Conference Wasps were absolutely flying away at Worcester Warriors, beating them 55-12, and Yorkshire Carnegie got off to a strong start too, beating Newcastle Falcons 33-19.
The U18 Academy League is compromised of two conferences, north and south, each with seven teams. Leicester Tigers, Yorkshire Carnegie, Newcastle Falcons, Sale Sharks, Northampton Saints, Worcester Warriors, and Wasps make up the northern conference, with Bristol, Bath, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester, Saracens, London Irish, and Harlequins making up the southern conference. The winners of each conference then meet on finals day, where second also play second and third play third, to decide the champions, third place, and fifth place.
Following those opening three games, there are three more to be played over the next few days, beginning with a West Country derby between Bristol and Bath at Bristol Grammar School that was played on Wednesday.
Bristol secured a 32-14, and started the game on fire, going 19-0 up inside half an hour through two tries from SGS Filton College winger Jack Bates and a third from Redland Green wing, Will Hines.
Bath hit back through Sam Elrick, but a Nathan Camberlain penalty sent the home side into the break 22-7 up.
Hines crossed for his second shortly after the break, and not long after Bates also crossed again, completing a superb hat-trick. Arthurd Cordwell grabbed a late consolation from Bath off the bench, but at 32-14, Bristol took home the spoils.
Thursday sees an East Midlands derby as Leicester Tigers host Northampton Saints at Loughborough University, as part of Leicester’s partnership with the university. Tigers include players from twelve different schools in their 23 man squad, with Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth I College the most represented, with six players. Northampton Saints meanwhile include England U18 winger Ollie Sleightholme in their side, which is skippered by openside Joe Wallace. Haileybury’s star fly half Sam Cappaert starts at outside centre, with Tyler Mills at outside half.
The round finishes on Friday wuth an all-London affair as the reigning champions, Harlequins, travel to Hazelwood to take on London Irish. Irish include Wellington College’s Will Sinfield at fly half, and there is a familiar surname on the bench in Philip Cokanasiga.
Harlequins meanwhile include plenty of familiar surnames, not least Louis Lynagh, son of Australian rugby legend, Michael. Also included is Brighton College’s Luc Smith, younger brother of 18 year old Quins sensation, Marcus, and his schoolmate Jon Searle.
U18 Academy League Round 1 Fixtures:
Wednesday
Bristol 32-14 Bath – Bristol Grammar School, 13.30
Thursday
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints – Loughborough University, 16.00
Friday
London Irish v Harlequins – Hazelwood, 12.00
Results:
Saracens 31-34 Gloucester
Worcester Warriors 12-55 Wasps
Yorkshire Carnegie 33-19 Newcastle
Team News:
Bristol
15 Tom Wilstead (Colston’s), 14 Will Hines (Redland Green), 13 Charlie Powell (Bristol GS), 12 Ethan Smith (SGS Filton College), 11 Jack Bates (SGS Filton College), 10 Nathan Chamberlain (SGS Filton College), 9 Ben Roach (SGS Filton College), 1 Charlie Brabham (SGS Filton College), 2 Will Capon (c)(Bristol GS), 3 Nick English, 4 Tom Ford (SGS Filton College), 5 Ned Smith (SGS Filton College), 6 Ethan Organ (Clifton College), 7. Tomi Adgebite (Cabot Learning Federation), 8 George Kloska (SGS Filton College).
Replacements: 16 Sean Ihegie (Cabot Learning Federation), 17 Jay Burley (SGS Filton College), 18 George Brazier (Clifton College), 19 Ben Tothill (SGS Filton College), 20 Jake Goodridge (Castle School), 21 Blake Boyland (SGS Filton College), 22 Ioan Lloyd (Clifton College), 23 Quentin Querl (Weston College).
Bath
15 Oli Hobman, 14 Luke Mehson, 13 Will Butt (c), 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Oran McNulty, 10 Tom de Glanville, 9 Ben Mead, 1 George Bamsey, 2 Sam Elrick, 3 Si Elrick, 4 Chris Moore, 5 Tom Jeanes, 6 Ayden Chenoweth, 7 Henry Povoas, 8 Nahum Merrigan.
Replacements: 16 Rory Murchison, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Jack Bertinet, 19 Miles Gilbert, 20 Ed Wallrock, 21 Will Cook, 22 Will Hendy, 23 Gabe Hamer-Webb.
Leicester Tigers
15 Freddie Steward (Norwich), 14 Zack Godfrey (Stamford), 13 Andre Dunn (Langley), 12 Sam Wager (Wyggeston & QE College), 11 Will Poland (Bishop Vesey’s GS), 10 Sam Costelow (Oakham), 9 Will Yarnell (Loughborough GS), 1 Keston Lines (Wyggeston & QE College), 2 Jamie Harding (Denstone College), 3 James Whitcombe (Woodhouse Grove), 4 George Martin (Brooksby Melton College), 5 Cameron Jordan (Oakham), 6 Henri Lavin (Wyggeston & QE College) (c), 7 Taylor Gough (Wyggeston & QE College), 8 Thom Smith (Langley).
Replacements: 16 Shaun Allsopp (Stamford), 17 Alex Maxwell (Brooksby Melton College), 18 Joe Latham (Wyggeston & QE College), 19 Xander Purcell (Wyggeston & QE College), 20 Sam Eveleigh (Leicester GS), 21 Jonny Law (Rugby), 22 Ronnie Du Randt (Denstone College), 23 Luke Phoenix (Langley).
Northampton Saints
15 Jake Johnson, 14 Josh Gillespie, 13 Sam Cappaert, 12 Conor Tupai, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Tyler Mills, 9 Fin Creighton, 1 Fraser Thompson, 2 Samson Ma’asi, 3 Mitchell Brown, 4 Marshall Sykes, 5 Freddie Betteridge, 6 Tom Addison, 7 Joe Wallace (c), 8 Ryan Hussey.
Replacements: 16 Arun Mehta, 17 Elliot Chilvers, 18 Ed McDowell, 19 Kayde Sylvester, 20 Emmanuel Iyogun, 21 Sam Connor, 22 Lewis Evans, 23 Josh Lack.
London Irish
15 Jack Jesty, 14 Dan Stoller, 13 Ciaran McGann, 12 Reuben Knight, 11 Ben Harris, 10 Will Sinfield, 9 Sam Slough, 1 Jamie Henson, 2 Ben Atkins, 3 Brandon Baker, 4 Chunya Munga, 5 Ben Donnell, 6 Josh Smart, 7 Fin Rossiter, 8 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Langdon, 17 Luke Green, 18 Jack Belcher, 19 Lee Moore, 20 Gwilym Bradley, 21 Gruffydd Williams, 22 Philip Cokanasiga, 23 Takiko Taukei.
Harlequins (from):
Forwards
S Riley (St Georges College, Weybridge), J Salomon (Whitgift), A Salomon (Whitgift), F Baxter (Wellington College), K Sassone (Sevenoaks), P Green (Seaford College), S Davies (Cranleigh), H Tizard (Cranleigh), G Hammond (Whitgift), H Dugmore (Whitgift), H Hyde (Cranleigh), V Everitt (Hartpury College), J Kenningham (Reed’s).
Backs
C Englefield (St Pauls Catholic College), S Jardine (Dulwich College), L Smith (Brighton College), T Allen (Epsom College), J Potter (St John’s, Leatherhead), J Bourton (Hurstpierpoint College), L Anyanwu (Christ’s Hospital), H Barlow (Cranleigh), J Searle (Brighton College), J Bond (St John’s, Leatherhead), L Lynagh (Hampton).
