The Christmas period has seen the opening three rounds of the U18 Academy League take place, with Exeter Chiefs v Bath and Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks completing the round over the weekend.

In an intensely competitive opening to the competition, only the back to back champions, Leicester Tigers, remain unbeaten after these opening three rounds. Meanwhile at the other end of the spectrum just one side in each conference is yet to seal victory, Yorkshire Carnegie in the Northern Conference and Exeter Chiefs in the South.

The competition continues this weekend with round 4, the midpoint of the campaign, with three further rounds on the weekends of the 18^th, 25^th, and the 8^th of February, with the U18 Academy League finals taking place on Sunday 16^th February.

Northern Conference

Leicester Tigers have taken the Northern Conference by storm, beating Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks in cracking encounters in the opening two rounds before a strong 19-0 victory over Newcastle Falcons on Saturday 28^th.

Sale’s 27-18 defeat at home to Tigers is their only defeat of these opening rounds, having won a tight opener over Worcester Warriors before a thrilling 37-24 victory at Northampton Saints on Sunday in the final game of the third round, leaving them second in the table at present, four points behind the champions.

Behind Sale in third are Worcester, level with Northampton Saints in fourth, Worcester have played just twice having had the bye in round 2. They beat Wasps 33-21 last time out for their first victory. Saints meanwhile have, as mentioned, lost to Tigers and Sale but enjoyed a thumping 50-28 victory at Yorkshire Carnegie in Round 2.

Wasps and Newcastle Falcons sit in 5^th and 6^th, just a point behind the two ahead. Each has one victory to their name, Wasps beat Yorkshire Carnegie 54-12 in their opener, but the key was surely the game between the two in round 2 where Newcastle hosted Wasps and secured an impressive 42-24 victory.

Southern Conference

London Irish are sitting at the top of the table in the Southern Conference thanks to their strong bonus point haul. The Exiles lost a thriller to second place Saracens in Round 3, 34-28, but bonus points their added to their 22-10 victory at Gloucester and 41-31 home victory over Harlequins keep them top of the table.

Saracens have the same record though, in addition to beating Irish they also secured a 31-19 victory over Exeter Chiefs in Round 1. However in Round 2 Bath got the better of them at The Rec, winning 26-14.

Like Irish and Saracens, Bath also have two victories from their three games and sit in third place. Having lost 18-17 to Bristol in Round 1 they bounced back with that victory over Saracens and made it back to back victories on Saturday when they won 22-7 at Truro College against Exeter Chiefs.

Harlequins sit in fourth place with a game in hand having played just twice. They lost that thriller to London Irish in Round 2 and then at Rosslyn Park on Saturday 28^th, on a live streamed game, they sealed a 41-15 victory over Gloucester.

Behind Quins are Bristol, who have enjoyed that narrow victory over Bath before an exciting 36-25 defeat at Gloucester. That is Gloucester’s only victory so far, as they Cherry and Whites have lost out to London Irish and Harlequins in their other two games, while Exeter sit at the foot of the table without a victory to their name as yet.

Coming Up

The league is back in action again this weekend, and Leicester Tigers will be looking to make it four from four when they travel to Yorkshire Carnegie. Meanwhile Northampton Saints and Worcester Warriors are also in action in an exciting looking game on Saturday. The Northern Conference action will be finished off for the round on Sunday when Sale Sharks visit Newcastle Falcons, Wasps meanwhile have the bye for Round 4.

Over in the South there will be plenty of focus on the top end clash between London Irish and Bath at Hazelwood on Saturday lunchtime. Meanwhile at Surrey Sports Park Harlequins will be hosting Exeter Chiefs before Saracens host Bristol Bears on Sunday. Gloucester have the Southern Conference bye for round 4.

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U18 Academy League Tables:

U18 Academy League Results:

Round 1

North

Leicester Tigers 25-12 Northampton Saints

Wasps 54-12 Yorkshire Carnegie

Sale Sharks 22-20 Worcester Warriors

South

Saracens 31-19 Exeter Chiefs

Bristol Bears 18-17 Bath

Gloucester 10-22 London Irish

Round 2

North

Newcastle Falcons 42-24 Wasps

Yorkshire Carnegie 28-50 Northampton Saints

Sale Sharks 18-27 Leicester Tigers

South

Gloucester 36-25 Bristol Bears

London Irish 41-31 Harlequins

Bath 26-14 Saracens

Round 3

North

Worcester Warriors 33-21 Wasps

Leicester Tigers 19-0 Newcastle Falcons

Northampton Saints 24-37 Sale Sharks

South

Harlequins 41-15 Gloucester

London Irish 28-34 Saracens

Exeter Chiefs 7-22 Bath

U18 Academy League Fixtures

Round 4

North

Yorkshire Carnegie v Leicester Tigers – Sat 11^th Jan, 12.30pm, Yarnbury RFC

Northampton Saints v Worcester – Sat 11^th Jan, 2pm, Franklin’s Gardens

Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks – Sun 12^th Jan, 2pm, Kingston Park

South

London Irish v Bath – Sat 11^th Jan, 1pm, Hazelwood

Harlequins v Exeter Chiefs – Sat 11^th Jan, 2pm, Surrey Sports Park

Saracens v Bristol Bears – Sun 12^th Jan, 1pm, Allianz Park

Round 5

North

Northampton Saints v Wasps – Sat 18^th Jan, 1.30pm, Franklin’s Gardens

Worcester Warriors v Newcastle Falcons – Sun 19^th Jan, 2pm, Sixways

Sale Sharks v Yorkshire Carnegie – Sun 19^th Jan, 2.30pm, Manchester Met Uni

South

Bath v Harlequins – Sat 18^th Jan, TBA, TBA

Bristol Bears v London Irish – Sat 18^th Jan, 11.30am, Shaftesbury Park

Gloucester v Exeter Chiefs – Sat 18^th Jan, 1.30pm, Newlands Park

Round 6

North

Yorkshire Carnegie v Newcastle Falcons – Sat 25^th Jan, TBA, TBA

Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors – Sat 25^th Jan, 12pm, Oval Park

Wasps v Sale Sharks – Sat 25^th Jan, 1pm, Ricoh Arena

South

Bristol Bears v Harlequins – Sat 25^th Jan, 1pm, Combination Ground

Saracens v Gloucester – Sat 25^th Jan, 1pm, Allianz Park

Exeter Chiefs v London Irish – Sat 25^th Jan, 2pm, Truro College

Round 7

North

Wasps v Leicester Tigers – Sat 8^th Feb, 1pm, Aylesbury RFC

Newcastle Falcons v Northampton Saints – Sat 8^th Feb, 2pm, Kingston Park

Worcester Warriors v Yorkshire Carnegie – Sat 8^th Feb, 2pm, Sixways

South

Harlequins v Saracens – Sat 8^th Feb, 1.30pm, Surrey Sports Park

Bath v Gloucester – Sat 8^th Feb, 2pm, Millfield School

Exeter Chiefs v Bristol Bears – Sat 8^th Feb, 2pm, Truro College

Finals Day – Sunday 16^th February

Image via Claire Tremeer