Round 3 of the 2018 U18 Academy League takes place this weekend, the second of three weekend’s of U18 Premiership action in a row.
Fourteen sides compete in the competition, the twelve Premiership clubs plus Bristol and Yorkshire Carnegie, and they are split into two divisions of 7, North and South. Each side plays the others in their division once, meaning that one sides in each division has a bye each week, and the top three from each league at the end of the competition meet their counterparts at U18 Academy League finals day.
Northern Conference
The Northern conference kicks off at 1pm at Broadstreet RFC as Wasps host Sale Sharks. Wasps enjoyed a thumping win over Worcester in the opening round before a draw away at Newcastle Falcons last weekend. This is their first home game of the campaign, and once again the outstanding Alfie Barbeary skippers them from hooker.
For Sale Sharks it is just their second game, they had a bye in the opening weekend before defeat to Leicester Tigers last week, who have a bye this week. They will be keen to bounce back fast, knowing that they have a top class side. They are without talismen Cameron Redpath and Bevan Rodd of Sedbergh though, they have been training with England U20, however the likes of Kieran Wilkinson, Tom Curtis, and Sam Dugdale all start.
The action then continues at 2pm at Kingston Park where Newcastle Falcons host Northampton Saints. Newcastle are yet to pick up a win, having lost to Yorkshire Carnegie in the opening round and drawing with Wasps last time out. Saints are also winless, they drew to Leicester in the opening round and lost a narrow one to Worcester last weekend, making this a massive game for both sides as they aim to establish some momentum.
Saints are yet to name their side but Newcastle include both Morgan Passman and Will Montgomery, who both signed Academy contracts in midweek. Cameron Kelemti shows his versatility, moving from centre to scrum half.
The final game in the Northern Conference this weekend takes place on Sunday as Worcester Warriors host Yorkshire Carnegie at Sixways for a midday kick off.
Worcester have yet to name their side, but are sure to be looking to build on last week’s win over Northampton Saints. Yorkshire Carnegie meanwhile have had a long break since beating Newcastle and will definitely want to get off to a fast start. They are skippered by looshead Ben Carlile, with scrum half Joe Green holding the vice-captaincy for the Headingley based side.
Southern Conference
Its is an early start in the Southern Conference as Saracens host Bristol at Allianz Park for a 10.30am kick off. Saracens bounced back from an opening round loss to Gloucester for a 23-12 win at Harlequins last week.
Bristol meanwhile had a bye week last time out, but will be full of confidence after a strong win over Bath in their opening game. Their side is dominated by their AASE team, SGS Filton College, but Bristol Grammar School and England U18 hooker Will Capon holds the captaincy.
Following that game, attention turns to West London and Hazelwood, where London Irish host Bath at midday on Saturday. Bath are winless so far after defeats to Bristol and a rampant Gloucester side. London Irish are in the same boat though, having been beaten by Exeter last week and Harlequins in the opening round, making this a crucial game for both.
Bath have not named their side, but London Irish include Millfield’s William Joseph at outside centre, younger brother of British and Irish Lions, England, and Bath centre, Jonathan, a former London Irish player. Wellington College’s Will Sinfield is again at 10, Brighton College’s Toby Smith comes in at 8.
The final game in the Southern Conference is hosted by Dean Close School at 2.15pm on Saturday, with Gloucester welcoming Exeter Chiefs. Gloucester are flying, with wins over Saracens and Bath away from home so far. Exeter have played just the one game after an opening round bye, but it was an impressive one, beating London Irish 48-17.
Gloucester had two hat-trick heroes last week, and both start this week, Jacob Morris on the left wing and Ewan Fenley at scrum half. With the likes of Reece Dunn and JJ Tonks also included, it is a very strong looking Gloucester side. Exeter meanwhile are once again skippered by the outstanding Sam Maunder of Blundell’s.
As always, if you have any videos, photos, or reports from the weekend’s U18 Academy League rugby, please feel free to send them in via Twitter (@FifteenRugbyXV), Facebook (www.facebook.com/FifteenRugby), Instagram (@fifteenrugbyxv), or through email (writers@fifteenrugby.com).
U18 Academy League Round 3 Fixtures:
Northern Conference
Newcastle Falcons v Northampton Saints – Saturday 2.00pm, Kingston Park
Wasps v Sale Sharks – Saturday 1.00pm, Broadstreet RFC
Worcester Warriors v Yorkshire Carnegie – Sunday, 12.00pm, Sixways
Southern Conference
Gloucester v Exeter Chiefs – Saturday, 2.15pm, Dean Close
London Irish v Bath – Saturday, 12.00pm, Hazelwood
Saracens v Bristol – Saturday, 10.30am, Allianz Park
Round 2 Results:
Northern Conference
Sale Sharks 6-16 Leicester Tigers
Newcastle Falcons 24-24 Wasps
Northampton Saints 20-26 Worcester Warriors
Southern Conference
Bath 10-66 Gloucester
Exeter Chiefs 48-17 London Irish
Harlequins 12-23 Saracens
Round 1 Results:
Northern Conference
Leicester Tigers 31-31 Northampton Saints
Worcester Warriors 12-55 Wasps
Yorkshire Carnegie 33-19 Newcastle Falcons
Southern Conference
Bristol 32-14 Bath
London Irish 29-43 Harlequins
Saracens 31-34 Gloucester
Team News:
Northern Conference
Newcastle Flacons
15 Josh Hodge, 14 Morgan Passman, 13 Chidera Obonna, 12 Jack Peter, 11 Harry Jackson, 10 Callum Pascoe, 9 Cameron Kelemeti, 1 Will Elliott, 2 Joe Lashley, 3 Oscar Caudle, 4 Rob Farrar, 5 Will Montgomery, 6 Harry Hill, 7 Eddy Anderson, 8 Tom Marshall.
Replacements: 16 Phil Brantigham, 17 Reece Amir, 18 Freddy Lockwood, 19 Will Petiffer, 20 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 21 Theo Manihera, 22 Nathan Henderson, 23 Shaw Lorimer-Bell.
Northampton Saints – TBA
Wasps
15 O’Sullivan, 14 Bacon, 13 Anderson, 12 Weatherall, 11 Henderson, 10 Pietersen, 9 Chilcott (vc), 1 Nearchou, 2 Barbeary (c), 3 Roche, 4 Kelley, 5 Ademuwagun, 6 Mawdsley, 7 Tunney, 8 Jakobsen.
Replacements: 16 Mbaud, 17 Pleasants, 18 West, 19 Vickers, 20 Calvert-Evers, 21 Kat, 22 Lowe, 23 Atta.
Sale Sharks
15 Tom Curtis, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Nathan Pope, 11 Raffi Quirke, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 Tom Walsh, 1 Alex Brooks, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Cal Ford, 4 Rouban Birch, 5 Jack Hill, 6 Ciaran Booth, 7 Charlie Papworth, 8 Sam Dugdale.
Replacements: 16 Liam Davies, 17 James Harper, 18 Sam Higginson, 19 Joe Johnson, 20 James Rooney, 21 Evan Powell, 22 Nico Rizzelli.
Worcester Warriors – TBA
Yorkshire Carnegie
15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Joe Gatus, 13 Andre Robson, 12 Dan Lancaster, 11 James MaGee, 10 Tom Stephenson, 9 Joe Green (vc), 1 Ben Carlile (c), 2 Lawrence Mason, 3 Billy Nicholls, 4 Adam Hopkinson, 5 Matt Burke, 6 James Willis, 7 Edan Kelly, 8 Archie Smeaton.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Gibson, 17 Conner Hancock, 18 Will Booth, 19 Will Pritchard, 20 Harry Williams, 21 George Wright, 22 Cail Cookland, 23 Morgan Bunting.
Southern Conference
Gloucester
15 Reece Dunn, 14 Alex Morgan, 13 Jack Reeves, 12 Isaac Marsh, 11 Jacob Morris, 10 George Barton, 9 Ewan Fenley, 1 Shay O’Malley, 2 Morgan Nelson, 3 Jack Bartlett, 4 Archie Tarbuck, 5 Joe Howard, 6 JJ Tonks, 7 Jack Clement, 8 Cam Terry.
Replacements: 16 Bertie Stretch, 17 Alex Hunt, 18 Ollie Adkins, 19 Jonny Holliday, 20 Bailey Watts, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Tom Stanton, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit.
Exeter Chiefs
15 James Tucker, 14 Archie Hill, 13 Luke Flack, 12 Robbie Weeks, 11 Kian Atkinson, 10 Olly Toomey, 9 Sam Maunder (c), 1 Alfie Petch, 2 Will Ridout, 3 Henry Trudgill, 4 Lewis Pearson, 5 Cory Teague, 6 Flynn Elworthy, 7 Richard Capstick, 8 Rus Tuima.
Replacements: 16 Harvey Dunn, 17 Oliver Andrews, 18 Elliot Salt, 19 Joseph Parker-Cooke, 20 Bryn-Lee Jago, 21 James Tait, 22 Francesco Scardamaglia, 23 Dan Lilley.
London Irish
15 Jack Jesty, 14 Ted Drayson, 13 William Joseph, 12 Reuben Knight, 11 Ben Harris, 10 Will Sinfield, 9 Sam Clough, 1 Jamie Henson, 2 Ben Atkins, 3 Brandon Baker, 4 Chunya Munga, 5 Lee Moore, 6 Ben Donnell, 7 Josh Smart, 8 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Edward Cockman, 17 Oisin Kearney, 18 Jack Belcher, 19 Jacob Culley-Wilson, 20 Gwilym Bradley, 21 Gruffyd Williams, 22 Philip Cokanasiga, 23 Alex Young.
Bath – TBA
Saracens – TBA
Bristol
15 Ioan Lloyd (Clifton College), 14 Will Hines (Redland Green), 13 Charlie Powell (Bristol GS), 12 Nathan Chamberlain (SGS Filton College), 11 Jack Bates (SGS Filton College), 10 Tom Wilstead (Colston’s), 9 Blake Boyland (SGS Filton College), 1 Charlie Brabham (SGS Filton College), 2 Will Capon (Bristol GS, c), 3. Nick English (Bristol Academy), 4 Tom Ford (SGS Filton College), 5 Ned Smith (Bristol GS), 6 Ethan Organ (Clifton College), 7 Tomi Adgebite (Cabot LF), 8 George Kloska (SGS Fiton College).
Replacements: 16. Sean Ihegie (Cabot LF), 17 Jay Burley (SGS Filton College), 18 George Brazier (Clifton College), 19 Ben Tothill (SGS Filton College), 20 Jake Goodridge (Castle), 21 Ben Roach (SGS Filton College), 22 Ethan Smith (SGS Filton College), 23 Quentin Querl (Weston College).
