The U18 Academy League continues this weekend with five fixtures on Saturday and one on Sunday.

It is Round 5 of the league and is followed by a week’s break ahead of the final two rounds at the start of February, with the U18 Academy League finals day then taking place on Sunday 17^th February at Allianz Park where the Top 3 sides in each conference will face their counterpart from the opposite conference.

The top side from each will naturally face off in the final, last year won by Leicester Tigers, who beat Gloucester in that final. Those two top each conference again this year, Leicester by ten points with just a maximum of fifteen available to anyone else. Things are a little closer for Gloucester in the South, they are a point clear of Harlequins.

Northern Conference

Leicester can all but secure a place in that final at midday on Saturday should they secure the bonus point victory against Yorkshire Carnegie at Oval Park. Yorkshire have just one victory and that came in the opening round against Worcester, while Leicester have taken maximum points throughout. However things are never as simple as they look on paper and one interesting point in this game is that both sides are skippered by Woodhouse Grove pupils, loosehead James Whitcombe for Tigers and full back Joe Carpenter for Carnegie – there will certainly be plenty of bite!

Newcastle Falcons can stay in the hunt though when they host the winless Worcester Warriors in the 2pm kick off. The Falcons enjoyed a brilliant away win at Northampton Saints last time out and are developing a reputation as one of the best sides to watch.

So too are Sale Sharks, whose academy is becoming hugely celebrated. They host Northampton Saints on Sunday and while neither side can top the table, second and third places and therefore a place at finals day is still very much in play for both sides but they need to keep securing results in order to make that showpiece final day of U18 Academy League action.

Southern Conference

With Gloucester having a bye week, Saturday gives Harlequins a chance to leapfrog them and Bath a chance to seriously narrow the gap and become table-topping contenders. Those two meet at Surrey Sports Park at 2.15pm on Saturday in what is probably the game of the weekend. Quins lost by just a point to Gloucester last week to surrender top spot and will be itching to regain it, but Bath are surely full of confidence after ticking along at nearly a point a minute against Bristol Bears last time out.

Bristol will be hurting from that and desperate to collect a first victory over the season on Saturday. There face an away trip to London Irish’s Hazelwood complex for a 12.30pm kick off.

At 2pm over at Exeter University, Exeter Chiefs will host Saracens. Both sides have just one victory each after both playing three games so far, Saracens picking theirs up against London Irish last week while Exeter beat Bristol the week before. This would be a massive one for either side to collect victory in.

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U18 Academy League Round 5 Fixtures:

Northern Conference

Leicester Tigers v Yorkshire Carnegie – Saturday, 12pm, Oval Park

Newcastle Falcons v Worcester Warriors – Saturday, 2pm, Kingston Park

Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints – Sunday, 2pm, Manchester Met University

Sothern Conference

Exeter Chiefs v Saracens – Saturday, 2pm, Exeter University

Harlequins v Bath – Saturday 2.15pm, Surrey Sports Park

London Irish v Bristol Bears – Saturday, 12.30pm, Hazelwood

Tables:

Team News:

Leicester Tigers

15 Freddie Steward, 14 Leo Gilliland, 13 Matt Potts, 12 Sam Costelow, 11 Joe Browning, 10 Harry Glynn, 9 Sam Edwards, 1 James Whitcombe (captain), 2 Archie Vanes, 3 Rob Hardwick, 4 Will Backhouse, 5 George Martin, 6 Emeka Ilione, 7 Samuel Eveleigh, 8 Ollie Ashworth.

Replacements: 16 Shaun Allsopp, 17 Alex Maxwell, 18 Jack Rowntree, 19 Tom Manz, 20 Kit Smith, 21 Jack Van Poortvliet, 22 Ronnie Du Randt, 23 Ollie Smith.

Yorkshire Carnegie

15 Joe Carpenter (Woodhouse Grove, captain), 14 Ollie Williams (Ripon GS), 13 Jack Metcalfe (Bishop Burton College), 12 Jake Adams (QEGS Wakefield), 11 Oren Loftus (Queen Ethelburga’s), 10 Dan Lancaster (Bishop Burton College), 9 Sam Murphy (Bradford Grammar), 1 Conner Hancock (Bishop Burton College, vc), 2 Lawrence Mason (Sedbergh), 3 Liam Bishop (Trent College), 4 Will Smith (QES), 5 Steele Barker (Durham), 6 Ben Sugars (Grammar School at Leeds), 7 Harry Cartwright (Bishop Burton College), 8 Ted Wainwright (Ripon GS).

Replacements: 16 Sam Dickinson (Prince Henry’s GS), 17 Sam Ivers (Crossley Heath), 18 Will Pritchard (St John Fisher), 19 Oscar Scott (Bishop Burton College), 20 Alex Todd (Pocklington), 21 Theo Smerdon (Ampleforth College), 22 Ben MacNamara (Pocklington), 23 Luke Fairbank (Woodhouse Grove). TRs Jacob Polland (Crossley Heath), Tom Nicholson (Queen Ethelburga’s).

Newcastle Falcons

15 Theo Manihera, 14 Matty Ward, 13 Chidera Obonna, 12 Andrew Mitchell, 11 Will Roberts, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Michele Brighetti, 1 Will Elliott, 2 Owen Chaplin, 3 Phil Brantingham, 4 Ben Robson, 5 Freddie Lockwood, 6 Mason Lewthwaite, 7 Will Pettifer, 8 Paddy Cooper.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Drew Thompson, 18 Oscar Caudle, 19 Owen Vassallo, 20 Marcus Tiffen, 21 James Blackett, 22 Michael Cooke, 23 Wil Panday.

Worcester Warriors

15 Fin Morgan (Bromsgrove), 14 Lewis Maddox (Bromsgrove), 13 Harry Spencer (Warwick), 12 Sebastian Atkinson (Bromsgrove, captain), 11 Rufus Hulbert (Bromsgrove), 10 Fin Smith (Warwick), 9 Oliver Wynn (Bromsgrove), 1 Joe Richardson (King’s Worcester), 2 Jon Lilley (Stourport HS), 3 Jamie Constantine (Hartpury College), 4 Arinze Okemuo (KES Birmingham), 5 Jack Lewis (Stourport HS), 6 Jack Forsythe (Warwick), 7 Will Higgins (Idsall), 8 Morgan Monks (Worcester 6th Form College).

Replacements: 16 Ben Turner (Bromsgrove), 17 Will Davis (Ellesmere College), 18 Lewis Ballenger (Worcester 6th Form College), 19 Tom Black (Hereford 6th Form College), 21 Peter Olley (Bromsgrove), 22 Owen McDougall (Solihull).

Sale Sharks

15 Cal Grieve, 14 Oliver Melville, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Elliot Gourlay, 11 Tom Roebuck, 10 Tom Curtis, 9 Raffi Quirke (captain), 1 Tom Clarke, 2 Ethan Caine, 3 James Harper, 4 Sam Higginson, 5 Ewan Murphy, 6 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 7 John Bailey, 8 Josh Hadland.

Replacements: 16 PAtchett, 17 Harding, 18 Bowker 19 Johnson, 20 Ainscough, 21 Davies, 22 Oliver, 23 Melville. TRs Thomas, Bewlow, Bishop.

Northampton Saints – TBA

Exeter Chiefs

15 Frankie Dart, 14 Ben Fenton, 13 Troy Sixton, 12 Archie Hill, 11 Charlie Cadogan, 10 Haydn Lidstone, 9 Ali Stacey, 1 Chris King, 2 Will Goffey, 3 Harvey Dunn, 4 Joe Elsworth, 5 Luke Bralsford, 6 Jake Bond (captain), 7 Ethan Maltby, 8 Harry Hocking.

Replacements: 16 Mackenzie Oliver, 17 Cian Goldsmith, 18 Devlin Welch, 19 Joe Greaves, 20 Scott Butterworth, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Isaak Welch, 23 Alex Gozzard.

Saracens

15 Max Bliss (Dulwich College), 14 Lucas Lacamp (Kings Canterbury), 13 Cameron Furley (St Albans), 12 Josh Hallett (New Hall), 11 Jake Morris (Bishop’s Stortford College), 10 Josh Barton (Berkhamsted), 9 Sam Bryan (Felsted), 1 Harry Sturge (Felsted), 2 Theodore Dan (Alleyn’s), 3 Harvey Beaton (Sutton Valence), 4 Alex Wardell (Felsted), 5 Cameron Crowe (The Leys), 6 Toby Ponsford (Skinners), 7 Toby Knight (Berkhamsted), 8 Oliver Stonham (Felsted, captain).

Replacements: 16 Samson Adejimi (Davenant Foundation), 17 Jevaughn Warren (Oaklands College), 18 Matt Cannon (JFK Hemel Hempstead), 19 Callum McGurk (Haileybury), 20 Nathan Bispham (The North), 21 Charles Favell (Bishop’s Stortford College), 22 Brandon Jackson (Sutton Valence), 23 Daniel James (Townsend C of E).

Harlequins

15 L Lynagh (Hampton), 14 O Beard (Cranleigh), 13 L Anyanwu (Christs Hospital), 12 J Potter (St John’s, Leatherhead), 11 J Botterill (Fullbrook), 10 L Smith (Brighton College), 9 M Davies (Dulwich College), 1 J Salomon (Caterham), 2 S Riley (St. George’s, Weybridge, captain), 3 F Baxter (Wellington College), 4 E Powell (Brighton College), 5 E Croy (Dulwich College), 6 H Dugmore (Whitgift), 7 J Reid (Wellington College), 8 W Trenholm (Cranleigh).

Replacements: 16 D Thomas (Hurstpierpoint College), 17 B Murrin (Wellington College), 18 A Salomon (Whitgift), 19 T Scalabrini (Wellington College), 20 T Johnson (Wellington College), 21 J Williams (Harrodian), 22 J Bourton (Hurstpierpoint College), 23 A Clayton (Brighton College).

Bath

15 George Worboys (co-captain), 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Ruben Moxham, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Owen Dudman, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Tom Carr-Smith, 1 Archie Stanley, 2 John Stewart, 3 Jack Bertinet, 4 Ewan Richards (co-captain), 5 Ethan Staddon, 6 Xavier Hastings, 7 Will Hendy, 8 Nahum Merigan.

Replacements: 16 Tom Jenkins, 17 Archie Alexander, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Frankie Read, 20 Ayden Chenoweth, 21 Archie Friend, 22 Nat Arnold, 23 Gabriel Goss.

London Irish

15 Finley Brown, 14 Henry Arundell, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Phil Cokanasiga, 11 Alex Harmes, 10 Will Sinfield, 9 Sam Clough, 1 Luke Green, 2 Nathan Langdon, 3 Joe Keohane, 4 Albert Dwan, 5 Chunya Munga, 6 Lucas Brooke, 7 Josh Smart (captain), 8 Jack Belcher.

Replacements: 16 Joe Vajner, 17 Lennan Day, 18 Oisin Kearney, 19 Joe Knight, 20 Elijah Smith, 21 Rory Morgan, 22 Monty Bradbury, 23 Jesper Hartikainen. TRs Sam Harding, Dan Ormond.

Bristol Bears

15 Tom Unsworth, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Tom Jones, 12 Harry Ascherl, 11 Deago Bailey, 10 Tom Quinlan, 9 Abe Turner, 1 Harry Samuel, 2 Joel Coughlin, 3 Jay Burley, 4 Charlie Rice, 5 Spencer Power, 6 Andrew Watson, 7 Harry Chase, 8 Fergus Dick.

Replacements: 16 Aaron Thompson, 17 Charlie Squier, 18 George Perry, 19 Chris Moseley, 20 Hugh Richardson, 21 Jake Kendall, 22 Jack Gapper, 23 Adam Coblic.

Round 4 Results:

NC

Leicester Tigers 27-24 Sale Sharks

Northampton Saints 10-41 Newcastle Falcons

Yorkshire Carnegie 5-50 Wasps

SC

Bath 77-17 Bristol Bears

Gloucester 27-26 Harlequins

Saracens 31-19 London Irish

Round 3 Results:

NC

Leicester Tigers 34-7 Wasps

Newcastle Falcons 22-14 Yorkshire Carnegie

Worcester Warriors 19-24 Northampton Saints

SC

Bristol Bears 17-21 Exeter Chiefs

Gloucester 23-22 Bath

Saracens 12-26 Harlequins

Round 2 Results:

NC

Northampton Saints 12-53 Leicester Tigers

Wasps 42-31 Worcester Warriors

Yorkshire Carnegie 19-19 Sale Sharks

SC

Bath 64-7 Exeter Chiefs

Bristol Bears 14-50 Gloucester

Harlequins 43-26 London Irish

Round 1 Results:

NC

Newcastle Falcons 14-66 Leicester Tigers

Sale Sharks 43-17 Wasps

Yorkshire Carnegie 31-12 Worcester Warriors

SC 

Gloucester 28-12 Saracens

Harlequins 48-0 Bristol Bears

London Irish 36-20 Exeter Chiefs

Round 6 Fixtures (2^nd/3^rd 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 (9^th 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 17^th February, Allianz Park