There were some big changes in the U18 Academy League this weekend as the teams head ever nearer to finals day.

This was round five, and all sides have played four or five of their six fixtures. Following that, the top 3 sides from each conference will head to finals day, first in the North playing first in the South for the title, second playing second for third place overall, and third playing third for fifth overall.

Northern Conference

There was a stunning result in the Northern Conference on Saturday lunchtime as top of the table Wasps were toppled by second place Leicester Tigers. Not just toppled though, Tigers were 52-5 winners away from home.

That result allows them to leapfrog Wasps on points difference, and with a game in hand, Leicester must now surely be favourites to top the Northern Conference. Tries came from Freddie Steward of Norwich School, Brooksby Melton College’s George Martin, Woodhouse Grove prop James Whitcombe, with Stamford’s Dave Koelman completing the first half scoring. Martin secured his brace in the second half, with Oakham’s Jack Van Poortvliet, Langley’s Thom Smith, and Leicester Grammar’s Harry Glynn also crossing the whitewash.

Sale Sharks also shot up the table, moving from fifth into the final of the play off positions, third, thanks to a stunning 66-17 win over Worcester Warriors, who drop from third to fourth.

They scored ten tries, all through different players, with Ciaran Booth the first to score in response to an early Worcester score. Worcester quickly responded, but Sedbergh’s England U18 prop Bevan Rodd scored soon after for the hosts. James Harper was next up for the hosts, followed swiftly by James Rooney and Tom Walsh for a 33-10 lead at the break.

The scoring continued into the second half, with Rouban Birch, Connor Doherty, Ewan Ahsman, and Sam Dugdale all crossing before Cal Ford finished up the scoring for a brilliant 66-17 win.

Lastly, there was a 15-15 draw between the two sides that started the day at the foot of the table, Yorkshire Carnegie and Northampton Saints. The draw actually takes Yorkshire above Newcastle Falcons, moving from sixth to fifth, with Northampton Saints remain just a point behind.

Southern Conference

Gloucester still lead the Southern Conference, but their lead was cut of four points as a result of them having a bye week and Exeter Chiefs winning a tight one against Bath down at Truro College thanks to scores from prop Alfie Petch, his replacement, Elliot Salt, and number 8 Rus Tuima, with Bath crossing through Beechen Cliff’s Tom De Glanville and his schoolmate Miles Gilbert.

Saracens sit in third, two points behind Exeter Chiefs, and they will be ruing having drawn away to bottom club London Irish on Saturday at noon, 21-21. It leaves them six points behind Gloucester with just ten available, a tough ask to challenge for a place in the final, though second place is very much on as they go head to head with Exeter Chiefs this weekend.

The final game in the South saw Harlequins make the trip to Bristol. The South West Londoners won 36-19, a result that really puts them in the mix for the race to finals day. They are now level on points with Saracens in third and two behind Exeter. While top spot and a chance to retain their title might be a longshot, a return to finals day is very much on.

St Paul’s Catholic College’s Caolan Englefield opened the scoring for Quins, before Blake Boyland responded for the hosts. Dulwich College’s Femi Sofolarin hit back for Quins but Jack Bates leveled for Bristol, ending the half at 12-12.

Bristol took the lead in the second half, Bristol Grammar’s Charlie Powell sending them 19-12 up, but Quins then hit the accelerator, scoring through Cranleigh’s Hugh Tizzard, and a brace from Fulbrook’s Jake Botterill, before St John’s Leatherhead’s Jordan Bond rounded off the scoring for a 36-19 win.

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 5 Results:

Northern Conference

Sale Sharks 66-17 Worcester Warriors – Sunday, 2pm, Manchester Met Uni

Wasps 5-52 Leicester Tigers – Saturday, 1pm, Bicester RFC

Yorkshire Carnegie 15-15 Northampton Saints – Saturday, 1pm, Barnsley RFC

Southern Conference

Bristol 19-36 Harlequins – Saturday, 2.15pm, SGS Filton College

Exeter Chiefs 19-14 Bath – Saturday, 2pm, Truro College

London Irish 21-21 Saracens – Saturday, 12pm, Hazelwood 

Round 4 Results:

Northern Conference

Leicester Tigers 42-12 Worcester Warriors

Newcastle Falcons 14-33 Sale Sharks

Wasps 26-14 Yorkshire Carnegie

Southern Conference

Bath 36-36 Harlequins

Exeter Chiefs 38-19 Bristol

Gloucester 20-19 London Irish

Round 3 Results:

Northern Conference

Newcastle Falcons 41-27 Northampton Saints

Wasps 22-19 Sale Sharks

Worcester Warriors 20-19 Yorkshire Carnegie

Southern Conference

Gloucester 41-33 Exeter Chiefs

London Irish 41-50 Bath

Saracens 38-25 Bristol

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:

Sale Sharks

15 Nathan Pope, 14 Nico Rizelli, 13 Tom Roebuck, 12 James Rooney, 11 Tom Walsh, 10 Tom Curtis, 9 Gus Warr, 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 James Harper, 4 Rouban Birch, 5 Connor James, 6 Ciaran Booth, 7 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 8 Sam Dugdale.

Replacements: 16 Liam Davies, 17 Alex Brooks, 18 Cal Ford, 19 Jack Hill, 20 Owen Roberts, 21 Charlie Papworth, 22 Elliot Gourlay, 23 Connor Doherty, 24 Ewan Murphy.

Worcester Warriors

15 Noah Heward (Solihull), 14 Alex Haselock (Worcester 6^th Form College), 13 Rob Lester (Worcester 6^th Form College), 12 Paul Wells (Worcester 6^th Form College), 11 Charlie Gamble (Worcester 6^th Form College), 10 Louis Jackson (KES Stratford), 9 Jake Leonard (Worcester 6^th Form College), 1 Lewis Holsey (Solihull), 2 Jamie White (Worcester 6^th Form College), 3 Max Baggs (Cheltenham College), 4 Tom Berry (RGS Worcester), 5 Tom Fawcett (Warwick), 6 George Bates (King’s Worcester), 7 Will Higgins (Idsall), 8 Oli Thorneywork (Warwick).

Replacements: 16 Josh Olver (Droitwich Spa HS), 17 Ben Woodland (Worcester 6^th Form College), 18 Tom Furnival (Worcester 6^th Form College), 19 Owien Harriott-Davis (King’s Worcester), 20 Ben Turner (Bromsgrove), 21 Tom Williams (Bromsgrove), 22 Josh Phipps (Hartpury College), 23 Ollie Gould (Worcester 6^th Form College).

Wasps

15 Bacon, 14 Atta, 13 Simonds, 12 Weatherall, 11 Young, 10 Lowe, 9 Kay, 1 Nearchour, 2 Barbeary (c), 3 Roche, 4 Kelley, 5 Mawdsley, 6 Tunney, 7 Stoker, 8 Jakobsen.

Replacements: 16 Mbaud, 17 Pleasants, 18 Cordice, 19 Ademuwagun, 20 Vickers, 21 Chilcott, 22 Pietersen, 23 Hamilton.

Leicester Tigers

15 Freddie Steward (Norwich), 14 Will Poland (Bishop Vesey’s GS), 13 Ronnie Du Randt (Denstone College), 12 Andre Dunn (Langley), 11 Luke Phoenix (Langley), 10 Sam Costelow (Oakham), 9 Jonny Law (Rugby), 1 Keston Lines (Wyggeston & QE College), 2 Jamie Harding (Denstone College), 3 James Whitcombe (Woodhouse Grove), 4 George Martin (Brooksby Melton College), 5 Xander Purcell (Wyggeston & QE College), 6 Taylor Gough (Wyggeston & QE College, captain), 7 Sam Eveleigh (Leicester GS), 8 Dave Koelman (Stamford).

Replacements: 16 Finlay Gibson (Brooksby Melton College), 17 Alex Maxwell (Brooksby Melton College), 18 Joe Latham (Wyggeston & QE College), 19 Thom Smith (Langley), 20 Joe Browning (Denstone College), 21 Jack Van Poortvliet (Oakham), 22 Harry Glynn (Leicester GS), 23 Zack Godfrey (Stamford).

Yorkshire Carnegie

15 Joe Carpenter (Woodhouse Grove), 14 Joe Gatus (QEGS Wakefield, vc), 13 Jacob Mounsey (QEGS Wakefield), 12 Seth Adams (Hill House), 11 Jack Bodman (Hill House), 10 Dan Lancaster (Bishop Burton College), 9 Kai Ramratten (Mount St Mary’s), 1 Jasper McGuire (QEGS Wakefield), 2 Adam Brown (St Peters, York, c), 3 Conner Hancock (Bishop Burton College), 4 Adam Hopkinson (Silcoates), 5 Frazer Reed (Fulford), 6 Max Hanson (QEGS Wakefield), 7 Harry Williams – Bishop Burton College), 8 Matt Burke (Woodhouse Grove).

Replacements: 16 Lawrence Mason (Bishop Burton College), 17 Ben Carlile (Pocklington), 18 Callum Hancock (Bishop Burton College), 19 Allan Hudson (Giggleswick), 20 Ted Wainwright (Ripon GS), 21 George Wright (Rishworth), 22 Andre Robson (Durham), 23 Jack Kennell (Queen Ethelburga’s), 24 Will Pritchard (St John Fisher), 25 Cail Cookland (Bishop Burton College)

Northampton Saints N/A

Bristol

15 Ioan Lloyd (Clifton College), 14 Jack Bates (SGS Filton College), 13 Charlie Powell (Bristol GS), 12 Ethan Smith (SGS Filton College), 11 Will Hines (Redland Green), 10 Nathan Chamberlain (SGS Filton College), 9 Blake Boyland (SGS Filton College), 1 Charlie Branham (SGS Filton College), 2 Will Capon (Bristol GS), 3 Jay Burley (SGS Filton College), 4 George Brazier (Clifton College), 5 Chris Moseley (SGS Filton College), 6 Ethan Organ (Clifton College), 7 Tomi Adgebite (Cabot LF), 8 George Kloska (SGS Filton College).

Replacements: 16 Sean Ihegie (Cabot LF), 17 Harry Samuel (Hartpury College), 18 Owen Evans (SGS Filton College), 19 Finn Langford (SGS Filton College), 20 Hugh Richardson (Bristol GS), 21 Ben Roach (SGS Filton College), 22 Soloman Hutchings (Clifton College), 23 Bertie Scoble (U19, St Mary’s Uni).

Harlequins

Forwards: 
S Riley (St George’s, Weybridge), J Morris (Whitgift), J Salomon (Whitgift), A Salomon (Whitgift), K Sassone (Sevenoaks), H Tizard (Cranleigh), G Hammond (Whitgift), J Glover (Harrow), T Davison (St John’s, Leatherhead), J Reid (Wellington College), J Kenningham (Reeds’), H.Dugmore (Whitgift)

Backs:
T Allen (Epsom College), E Dunford (Whigift), J Botterill (Fulbrook), F Sofolarin (Dulwich College), J.Bond (St John’s, Leatherhead), C Englefield (St Paul’s Catholic College), J Potter (St John’s, Leatherhead), S Jardine (Dulwich College), H Hyde (Cranleigh).

Exeter Chiefs

15 Dan Lilley, 14 Kian Atkinson, 13 Francesco Scardimaglia, 12 Luke Flack, 11 Archie Hill, 10 Olly Toomey, 9 James Tait, 1 Ollie Andrews, 2 Will Ridout, 3 Alfie Petch, 4 Lewis Pearson, 5 Joseph Parker-Cook, 6 Flynn Elworthy, 7 Rich Capstick, 8 Rus Tuima.

Replacements: 16 Harvey Dunn, 17 Henry Trudgill, 18 Elliot Salt, 19 Jake Clemson, 20 Cory Teague, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Robbie Weeks, 23 Devon Jewsbury.

Bath

15 Ethan Hutt (Beechen Cliff), 14 Luke Mehson (Canford), 13 Miles Gilbert (Beechen Cliff), 12 Will Butt (c) (Canford), 11 Oran McNulty (Millfield), 10 Tom de Glanville (Beechen Cliff), 9 Ben Mead (Beechen Cliff), 1 George Bamsey (Beechen Cliff), 2 Sam Elrick (Bryanston), 3 Si Elrick (Bryanston), 4 Chris Moore (Beechen Cliff), 5 Tom Jeanes (Beechen Cliff), 6 Ayden Chenoweth (Beechen Cliff), 7 Will Hendy (Beechen Cliff), 8 Nahum Merigan (Beechen Cliff).

Replacements: 16 Rory Murchison (Kingswood), 17 Jamie Guest (Richard Huish College), 18 Archie Griffin (Marlborough College), 19 Lawrence Wort (KES Bath), 20 Max Ojomoh (KES Bath), 21 Fin French (Sherborne), 22 Harry Swinburne (Millfield), 23 George Worboys (Beechen Cliff).

London Irish

15 Dan Stoller, 14 Ted Drayson, 13 William Joseph, 12 Cieran McGann, 11 Ben Harris, 10 Reuben Knight, 9 Sam Clough, 1 Jamie Henson, 2 Ben Atkins, 3 Brandon Baker, 4 Lee Moore, 5 Ben Donnell, 6 Gwilym Bradley, 7 Josh Smart, 8 Toby Smith.

Replacements: 16 Edward Cockman, 17 Luke Green 18, Jack Belcher, 19 James Griffiths, 20 Nicholas Teague, 21 Edward Morgan, 22 Philip Cokanasiga, 23 Michael Dykes.

Saracens

15 Max Bliss (Dulwich College), 14 Oliver Bluck (New Hall), 13 Tom Hitchcock (Felsted), 12 Charlie Watson (King’s Canterbury), 11 David Jimoh-Ibrahim (New Hall), 10 Manu Vunipola (Harrow), 9 Matteo Petrozzi (Tonbridge), 1 Kapeli Pifleti (Haileybury), 2 Sam Crean (Harrow), 3 Harvey Beaton (Sutton Valence), 4 Ollie Stonham (Felsted), 5 Cameron Boon (c) (Bishop Stortford College), 6 Tobias Munday (Harrow), 7 Dylan Taylor (Tonbridge), 8 Alfie Scopes (Judd).

Replacements: 16 Theodore Dan (Alleyn’s), 17 Tom Harris (Tonbridge), 18 Harry Sturge (Felsted), 19 Jonathan Kpoku (Oaklands College), 20 Ethan Benson (Hayes), 21 Kyle Douglas (Haileybury), 22 Josh Barton (Berkhamsted), 23 Jake Morris (Bishop Stortford College).