The 2018 U18 Academy League kicked off this weekend with six games over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
As ever, the league is split into two conferences of seven, North and South. Compromising of the twelve Gallagher Premiership clubs plus London Irish and Yorkshire Carnegie in the Greene King IPA Championship.
That gives us seven rounds of games, with one side in each conference having a bye each week, ahead of the U18 Academy League final on Sunday 17th February.
Northern Conference
Yorkshire Carnegie kicked things off in the Northern Conference with a Saturday morning game at home to Worcester Warriors, with the hosts capturing a 31-12 victory to start off their campaign with a bang.
Later in the day came one of the most hotly anticipated games of the weekend as champions Leicester Tigers travelled to Kingston Park to take on a Newcastle Falcons side whose Academy has been looking outstanding in recent times.
Leicester put in a stunning display though to secure a dominant 66-14 victory that included a hat-trick for winger Joe Browning as they Midlanders lay down a marker that suggest that they must again be title contenders.
The Northern Conference action was rounded off on Sunday when the much celebrated Sale Sharks academy hosted Wasps at Manchester Metropolitan University. Sale showed exactly why they are so highly spoken of as they secured a highly impressive 43-17 victory over the Wasps side, who were without inspirational Bloxham hooker Alfie Barbeary, who is playing in the A side in the Premiership Shield this weekend.
Southern Conference
Gloucester and Saracens kicked off the entire of round 1 at Hartpury College on Friday night. These two outstanding sides had a cracking contest, Gloucester coming out 28-12 victors with number 8 Jack Clement securing an impressive hat-trick.
Saturday saw the action head to South West London, where London Irish did their outstanding academy reputation no harm at all as they beat Exeter Chiefs 36-20.
Meanwhile at the Surrey Sports Park Harlequins hosted Bristol Bears and put in the sort of performance that will have had the other sides in the conference taking real note. In horrendous conditions they scored eight tries, including scores for captain Sam Riley and full back Louis Lynagh.
Coming Up
The next round of games takes place this coming weekend, with Northampton Saints and Bath entering the fray, Saints host Leicester in the Northern Conference, with Wasps v Worcester and Yorkshire v Sale the other two games in the conference.
Bath meanwhile host Exeter Chiefs in the Southern Conference, with Bristol Bears hosting Gloucester and Harlequins welcoming London Irish for a big South West London derby.
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U18 Academy League Round 1 Results:
Northern Conference
Newcastle Falcons 14-66 Leicester Tigers
Sale Sharks 43-17 Wasps
Yorkshire Carnegie 31-12 Worcester Warriors
Bye Week – Northampton Saints
Southern Conference
Gloucester 28-12 Saracens
Harlequins 48-0 Bristol Bears
London Irish 36-20 Exeter Chiefs
Bye Week – Bath
Team News:
Newcastle Falcons:
15 Alex Brundage, 14 Will Panday, 13 Chidera Obonna, 12 Will Haydon-Wood, 11 Seamus Hutton, 10 Michael Cooke, 9 Max Pepper, 1 Will Elliott, 2 Toby Peach, 3 Oscar Caudle, 4 Ben Robson, 5 Henry Schmid, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Will Pettifer, 8 Mason Lewthwaite.
Replacements: 16 Adam Hay, 17 Walid Kurdi, 18 Drew Thompson, 19 Owen Vassallo, 20 Paddy Cooper, 21 Callum Pascoe, 22 Will Roberts, 23 George Barber.
Leicester Tigers:
15 Freddie Steward, 14 Leo Gilliland, 13 Ronnie Du Rant, 12 Matt Potts, 11 Joe Browning, 10 Harry Glynn, 9 Jack Van Poortvliet, 1 Alex Maxwell, 2 Shaun Allsopp, 3 James Whitcombe, 4 Tom Manz, 5 George Martin, 6 Kit Smith, 7 Samuel Eveleigh (c), 8 Oliver Ashworth.
Replacements: 16 Archie Vanes, 17 Bob Singer, 18 Jack Rowntree, 19 Will Backhouse, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Sam Edwards, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Ben Dickinson.
Sale Sharks:
15 Cal Grieve, 14 Evan Powell, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Tom Curtis, 11 Tom Roebuck, 10 Will Davies, 9 Raffi Quirke (c), 1 Harry Harding, 2 Ben Patchett, 3 James Harper, 4 Sam Higginson, 5 Ewan Murphy, 6 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 7 Joe Johnson, 8 Ethan Caine.
Replacements: Wilkinson, Clarke, Bishop, Fishwick, Hadland, Ainscough Gourlay, O Melville, Thomas, C Melville.
Wasps:
15 Baker, 14 Baldwin, 13 Ma’asi, 12 Dunn, 11 Williams, 10 Mitchell, 9 Mortimer, 1 Coombs, 2 Nearchou, 3 Sabin, 4 Ademuwagun, 5 Mawdsley, 6 Tunney (c), 7 Eckersley, 8 Jakobsen.
Replacements: 16 Watkins, 17 Beckett, 18 Munro, 19 Kenyon, 20 Pichardie, 21 Monye, 22 Hughes, 23 Edeh.
Yorkshire Carnegie:
15 Joe Carpenter (Woodhouse Grove), 14 Ollie Williams (Ripon GS), 13 Luke Fairbank (Woodhouse Grove), 12 Jack Metcalfe (Bishop Burton College), 11 Jack Cherry (QEGS Wakefield), 10 Dan Lancaster (Bishop Burton College, vc), 9 Theo Smerdon (Ampleforth College), 1 Conner Hancock (Bishop Burton College), 2 Madison Hunting (Myerscough College), 3 Billy Addy (Bishop Burton College), 4 Angus Haswell (Hymers College), 5 Steele Barker (Durham), 6 Ben Sugars (Grammar School at Leeds), 7 Archie Smeaton (Hymers College, c), 8 Will Smith Queen Elizabeth 6th form College).
Replacements: 16 Lawrence Mason (Sedbergh), 17 Sam Ives (Crossley Heath), 18 Will Prichard (St John Fisher), 19 Ted Wainwright (Ripon GS), 20 Harry Cartwright (Bishop Burton College), 21 Ben Taylor (Bishop Burton College), 22 Ben MacNamara (Pocklington), 23 Harry Matthews (Pocklington).
Travelling Reserves: James Malcolmson & Oren Loftus (both Queen Ethelburga’s).
Worcester Warriors:
15 Finn Morgan (Bromsgrove), 14 Tom Matthews (RGS Worcester), 13 Paul Wells (Stourport HS), 12 Sebastien Atkinson (Bromsgrove), 11 Tom O’Hanlon (Solihull), 10 Finn Smith (Warwick), 9 Harry Mitcham (Stourport HS), 1 Lewis Holsey (Solihull), 2 Jon Lilly (Stourport HS), 3 Lewis Ballinger (Stourport HS), 4 Jack Goodwin (Hartpury College), 5 Jack Forsythe (Warwick), 6 Finn Thomas (Oldbury Wells), 7 Will Higgins (Idsall), 8 Morgan Monks (Stourport HS).
Replacements: 16 Ben Turner (Bromsgrove), 17 Monty Royston (Hartpury College), 18 Jaime Constantine (Hartpury College), 19 Owen McDougall (Solihull), 20 Ewen Guy (Bromsgrove), 21 TBC, 22 Peter Olley (Bromsgrove), 23 Lewis Maddox (Bromsgrove).
Gloucester:
15 Brooke Turner, 14 Oli Parmar, 13 Louis Hilman-Cooper, 12 Isaac Marsh, 11 Max Fletcher, 10 George Barton, 9 Matty Jones, 1 Harry Fry, 2 Ethan Hunt, 3 Jenson Boughton, 4 Archie Benson, 5 Freddie Thomas, 6 Joe Howard (c), 7 Josh Gray, 8 Jack Clement.
Replacements: 16 Leyton Chambers, 17 Rowan Mullis, 18 Harry Daynes, 19 Archie Tarbuck, 20 Harry Taylor, 2. Harry Gipson, 22 Tommy Mathews, 23 Brad Morgan.
Travelling Reserves: Reading, Lerwell, Howells.
Saracens:
15 Max Bliss (Dulwich College), 14 Daniel James (Townsend C of E), 13 Cameron Furley (St Albans), 12 Josh Hallett (New Hall), 11 Jake Morris (Bishop Stortford College), 10 Josh Barton (Berkhamsted), 9 Sam Bryan (Felsted), 1 Jevaughn Warren (Oaklands College), 2 Theodore Dan (Alleyn’s), 3 Harvey Beaton (Sutton Valence), 4 Alex Wardell (Felsted), 5 George Whalley (Felsted), 6 Ethan Benson (Hayes), 7 Toby Knight (Berkhamsted), 8 Oliver Stonham (Felsted, c)
Replacements: 16 Edward Holroyd (Haileybury), 17 Tom Brearley (Dulich College), 18 Harry Sturge (Felsted), 19 Toby Ponsford (Skinners), 20 Matt Mahoney (Mill Hill), 21 Jacob Buckley (Eltham College), 22 Brandon Jackson (Sutton Valence), 23 Harrison Obatoyinbo (Harrow).
Harlequins:
15 L Lynagh (Hampton), 14 J Haynes (Epsom College), 13 H Hyde (Cranleigh), 12 L Anyanwu (Christ’s Hospital), 11 O Beard (Cranleigh), 10 L Smith (Brighton College), 9 M Davies (Dulwich College), 1 P Green (Seaford College), 2 S Riley (St George’s College, c), 3 F Baxter (Wellington College), 4 E Powell (Brighton College), 5 S Davies (Cranleigh), 6 H.Dugmore (Whitgift), 7 T Scalabrini (Wellington College), 8 W Trenholm (Cranleigh).
Replacements: 16 J Salomon (Caterham), 17 D Thomas (Hurstpierpoint College), 18 A Salomon (Whitgift), 19 E Croy (Dulwich College), 20 J Reid (Wellington College), 21 J Williams (Harrodian), 22 A Clayton (Brighton College), 23 A Barry (Hampton).
Bristol Bears:
15 Tom Wilstead, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 Tom Jones (c), 12 Harry Ascherl, 11 Jack Bates, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Blake Boyland, 1 Sean Ihegie, 2 Joel Coughlin, 3 Jay Burley, 4 Charlie Rice, 5 Andrew Watson, 6 Harry Chase, 7 Ben Tothill, 8 Fergus Dick.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Squier, 17 Aaron Thompson, 18 Harry Samuel, 19 Spencer Power, 20 Andrew Hewitt, 21 Tom Stephens, 22 Tom Quinlan, 23 Freddie Wooler.
London Irish: Did not Announce
Exeter Chiefs:
15 Frankie Dart, 14 Ben Fenton, 13 Arthur Relton, 12 Isaak Welch, 11 Josh Davies, 10 Haydn Lidstone, 9 Tom Cairns, 1 Chris King, 2 MacKenzie Oliver, 3 Harry Wilkinson, 4 Mawgan Osborne, 5 Joe Greaves, 6 Joe Elsworth, 7 Jake Bond, 8 Josh Thorne.
Replacements: 16 Will Goffey, 17 Cian Goldsmith, 18 Harvey Dunn, 19 Joe Stansfield, 20 Scott Butterworth, 21 Ethan Maltby, 22 Ali Stacey, 23 Alex Gozzard.
Round 2 Fixtures (Friday 2st/Saturday 22nd December):
NC
Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers
Wasps v Worcester Warriors
Yorkshire Carnegie v Sale Sharks
SC
Bath v Exeter Chiefs
Bristol Bears v Gloucester
Harlequins v London Irish
Round 3 Fixtures (5th/6th January):
NC
Leicester Tigers v Wasps
Newcastle Falcons v Yorkshire Carnegie
Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints
SC
Bristol Bears v Exeter Chiefs
Gloucester v Bath
Saracens v Harlequins
Round 4 Fixtures (12th/13th January):
NC
Leicester Tigers
Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons
Yorkshire Carnegie v Wasps
SC
Bath v Bristol Bears
Gloucester v Harlequins
Saracens v London Irish
Round 5 Fixtures (19th/20th January):
NC
Leicester Tigers v Yorkshire Carnegie
Newcastle Falcons v Worcester Warriors
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
SC
Exeter Chiefs v Saracens
Harlequins v Bath
London Irish v Bristol Bears
Round 6 Fixtures (2nd/3rd February):
NC
Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons
Wasps v Northampton Saints
Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers
SC
Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins
London Irish v Gloucester
Saracens v Bath
Round 7 Fixtures (9th February):
NC
Northampton Saints v Yorkshire Carnegie
Wasps v Newcastle Falcons
Worcester Warriors v Sale Sharks
SC
Bath v London Irish
Bristol Bears v Saracens
Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester
U18 Academy League Finals Day – Sunday 17th February, Allianz Park
