The third round of the Premiership Rugby U18 Academy League took place this weekend and saw 2022 get off to a fantastic start for the stars of the future.

There was some fantastic rugby played across the six games as spectators were treated to seeing the next generation of top players strut their stuff despite the inclement weather conditions.

Three sides extended their unbeaten starts to the season, Sale Sharks, Saracens, and Harlequins, Sale Sharks going head to head with another of the sides that had begun the weekend unbeaten, Northampton Saints.

There was also a first victory of the season for Bath, on the same weekend that their 1^st XV also sealed their first victory, while Leicester Tigers also sealed a first win of the season, on the same weekend that their 1^st XV lost their unbeaten record, Worcester Warriors also claimed a first U18 victory of the campaign.

North Pool

Saturday saw Leicester Tigers and Newcastle Falcons go head to head in the North Pool in an absolutely fantastic contest that saw the two sides barely able to be separated, Tigers just winning out 27-24 for a first victory of the campaign ahead of next weekend’s home game against Yorkshire Academy. It was a tough loss for Falcons, who now head to unbeaten Sale Sharks next weekend.

Worcester Warriors also claimed a first victory of the campaign, heading to unbeaten Wasps and sealing a hugely impressive victory, 24-14, ahead of their home game against Northampton Saints next weekend, Wasps will have a bye.

On Sunday it was the big unbeaten head to head between Sale Sharks and Northampton Saints, but in the end it was an incredible performance from Sale Sharks that saw them secure a stunning 45-19 victory. Saints stuck at it, but brilliant performances from the likes of Charlie Wardle at 10 saw Sale looking utterly irresistible. Sale will be feeling fantastic ahead of next week’s game against Newcastle, while Saints will surely be keen to bounce right back against Worcester.

South Pool

Bath sealed a first victory of the campaign on Saturday and what a game to do it in as well, against Exeter Chiefs. They won 26-12 to leave them bouncing ahead of next weekend’s game against London Irish, while Exeter face the tricky task of a game against Harlequins, who are looking rampant.

As part of that rampant Quins form, the South West London side travelled to Kingsholm to take on Gloucester and put in a stunning 47-12 performance to make it two wins from two ahead of that game against Exeter. For Gloucester it’s a third defeat from three, ahead of next week’s bye.

Saracens, like Quins, also remain unbeaten and made it three from three on Saturday with a tight 17-14 victory over London Irish, a second close defeat on the spin for Irish. Saracens next week head to Bristol Bears for an all-unbeaten head to head, while London Irish will be off to Bath.

Images thanks to NickBImages (@nickbimages)

Round 3 Results and Team News:

North

Newcastle Falcons 24-27 Leicester Tigers

Sale Sharks 45-19 Northampton Saints

Wasps 14-24 Worcester Warriors

Yorkshire Academy – Bye

South

Bath 26-12 Exeter Chiefs

Gloucester 12-47 Harlequins

Saracens 17-14 London Irish

Bristol Bears – Bye

Team News:

North

Newcastle Falcons

15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Nathan Greenwood, 13 Jez Civil, 12 Will Hindle, 11 Tom Burton, 10 Harry Williams, 9 Ben Douglas, 1 Micky Rewcastle, 2 Charlie Smith, 3 Morgan Hall, 4 Finn Baker, 5 Luke Coulston, 6 Braemar Murray, 7 Ewan Venerus, 8 Zach Oldham.

Replacements: 16 Jacob Oliver, 17 Isaac Keller, 18 Sam Birkbeck, 19 Ayden Knott, 20 Will Murray, 21 Freddie Nickalls, 22 Oz Roberts, 23 Toby Ferguson.

Leicester Tigers

15 George Loose (Gresham’s), 14 Alexander Garrett (Denstone College), 13 Oscar van Deventer (Denstone College), 12 Joseph Woodward (Brooksby Melton College, captain), 11 Samuel Jacques (Brooksby Melton College), 10 Ben Taylor (Oakham), 9 Matt Durbridge (Brooksby Melton College), 1 Tom Wand (Brooksby Melton College), 2 Charlie Barraclough (Denstone College), 3 Oliver Crane (Oakham), 4 Finn Carnduff (Leicester Grammar), 5 Dan Ormerod (Oakham), 6 Simon Koroiyadi (Trent College), 7 Joshua Manz (Northampton School for Boys), 8 Chester Owen (Brooksby Melton College).

Replacements: 16 Max Nolan (Brooksby Melton College), 17 Jack Hurst (Brooksby Melton College), 18 Nathan Hind (Brooksby Melton College), 19 George Perkins (Denstone College), 20 Oliver Arnold (Uppingham), 21 Oscar McCarthy (Leicester Grammar), 22 Kian Carter (Brooksby Melton College), 23 Malelili Satala (Brooksby Melton College).

Sale Sharks

15 Leo Zheng, 14 Ben Verbickas, 13 Aaron Pope, 12 Ben Motamed, 11 Efan Edwards, 10 Charlie Wardle, 9 Will Wootton, 1 Jack Ellam, 2 Harry Thompson, 3 Patreece Bell, 4 Will Riley, 5 Ellis Causey, 6 Yande Nkonge, 7 Tristan Woodman, 8 Huw Davies (c).

Replacements: 16 Charlie Bancroft, 17 Gareth Parry, 18 Theo Bishop, 19 Paddy Jones, 20 Tom Campbell, 21 Kieran Kerr, 22 Fin Rogers, 23 Henry Harper.

Northampton Saints

15 Jody Devine (Samuel Whitbread Academy), 14 Ethan Thorne (St Joseph’s College), 13 Toby Cousins (Oakham), 12 Archie Kean (Royal Hospital School), 11 Frankie Sleightholme (Northampton School for Boys), 10 Toby Thame (Radley College), 9 Harry Hall (Ipswich), 1 Callum Smyth (Bedford), 2 Will Baker (Stamford), 3 Nicholas Tarr (Marth Rutherford), 4 Carn Richards-Farr (Birchwood High), 5 James Bennett (Bedford), 6 George Lavender (Colchester RGS), 7 Ted Reid (Colchester RGS), 8 George Patten (Northampton School for Boys, captain).

Replacements: 16 Yuijan Zou (The Perse), 17 Sam Ferrari (Samuel Whitbread Academy), 18 Dave Bennett (Rugby), 19 Aiden Kabi (Oundle), 20 Henry Pollock (Stowe), 21 Kieran Gilmour (Bedford), 22 Tommy Taylor (Rugby), 23 Ewan Baker (Stowe).

Wasps

15 B Kucera, 14 E Rokodrava, 13 R Sweeting, 12 W Evans, 11 S Sinclair, 10 J Annand, 9 M Winterburn, 1 C Aitchison, 2 H Silman, 3 J Farmer, 4 M Hornby (c), 5 L Jones, 6 R Logan, 7 G Ward, 8 B Pogson.

Replacements: 16 A O’Driscoll, 17 R Marsh, 18 C Bell, 19 Z Newcombe, 20 O Blunsom-Washbrook, 22 S Browning, 23 C Mason, 23 J Randall.

Worcester Warriors

15 Jack Kinder (Solihull), 14 Ollie Smith (Hartpury College), 13 Will Pugh (Stourport High, co-captain), 12 Archie Jones (Stourport High), 11 Alex Wills (Hartpury College), 10 Jack Condliffe (Stourport High), 9 Alex Terry (King’s Worcester ), 1 Lewys Walsh (Hartpury College), 2 Loic Keasey (RGS Worcester), 3 Will Couch (Hartpury College), 4 Will Chater (King’s Worcester), 5 Harvey Cuckson (Ellesmere College), 6 Will Owen (Ellesmere College), 7 Owen Boxall (Bishop Vesey’s Grammar), 8 Theo Mayell (Monmouth, co-captain).

Replacements: 16 Ethan Allen (Stourport High), 17 Aaron Hackett (Stourport High), 18 Finn Haynes (Stourport High), 19 George Boyle (King’s Worcester), 20 Sam Hawes (King’s Worcester), 21 Woody Facey (Hartpury College), 22 Billy McDonough (Bromsgrove), 23 Dan Chambers (Stourport High), 24 Billy Emerick (Stourport High).

South

Bath

15 James Redman (Beechen Cliff), 14 Byron Lloyd-Gilmour (Marlborough College), 13 Will Parry (Sherborne), 12 Sam Harris (Millfield, co-captain), 11 Max Ashton (Beechen Cliff), 10 Raff Weston (Beechen Cliff), 9 Ieuan Davies (Millfield), 1 Tom Hill (Wells Cathedral), 2 Max Pearce (Millfield, co-captain), 3 Billy Sela (Beechen Cliff), 4 Eddie Erskine (Millfield), 5 Max Jenkins (Millfield), 6 George Timmins (Millfield), 7 Archie McKibben (Millfield), 8 Kacey Pike (Beechen Cliff).

Replacements: 16 Tommy McLean (Beechen Cliff), 17 Max Surry (Downside), 18 Ellis Baker (Millfield), 19 Alex Salah (KES Bath), 20 Jack Haythornthwaite (Beechen Cliff), 21 Sam Curwen (Millfield, 22 Rory Crum (Beechen Cliff), 23 JJ O’Connell-Wozniak (Beechen Cliff).

Exeter Chiefs

15 Dan Hamilton-Strong, 14 Jack Statton, 13 Louie Drennan, 12 George Edson, 11 Jude Baker-Hands, 10 Nat Dart, 9 Morgan Stone, 1 Joe Thomson, 2 Pete Harris, 3 Tom Gulley, 4 Jago Sheppard, 5 Joe Bailey (c), 6 Barnaby Elderkin, 7 Seth Findlay, 8 Ellis Kershaw.

Replacement: 16 Henry Roberts, 17 Jack Ballett, 18 Archie Rolls, 19 Jake Salvi, 20 Will Saltmarsh, 21 Joe Walker, 22 Matt Smale, 23 Sam James.

Gloucester

15 Will Gilderson, 14 Nathan Thomson-Lee, 13 Dave Samak, 12 Tom Riman, 11 Ioan Jones, 10 Keillen Cullen, 9 Joe Adams, 1 Tom Cabot, 2 George Merritt (c), 3 Henry Pearson, 4 Sam Anson, 5 Mikey Nixon, 6 Freddie Stevens, 7 Casey Williams, 8 Tom Worts.

Replacements: 16 Fred Ma’a, 17 Will Hurn, 18 Sam Vince, 19 Jack Hall, 20 Rhys Ford, 21 Stan Folks-Underhill, 22 Archie Hossack, 23 Ben Peters.

Harlequins

15 Josh Bellamy (Trinity), 14 Ollie Bailey (Trinity), 13 Ben Waghorn (John Fisher), 12 Ludo Kolade (King’s Canterbury), 11 Finn Tawse (Wellington College), 10 Sean Kerr (Whitgift), 9 Charlie Clare (Brighton College), 1 Jack Wadman (Seaford College), 2 Jack Doorey-Palmer (Worthing College), 3 Caleb Ashworth (Gordon’s), 4 Jonny Green (Seaford College), 5 Harry Browne (Brighton College), 6 Jonathan Smith (Brighton College), 7 Seb Driscoll (Whitgift), 8 Zach Carr (Dulwich College).

Replacements: 16 Will Ayton (Wellington College), 17 Claudius Wheeler (St Paul’s), 18 Theo Martin (Gordon’s), 19 Tom Golder (Gordon’s), 20 Ben Elsey (Gordon’s), 21 Murdoch Lock (Wellington College), 22 Guy Rogers (Gordon’s).

Saracens

15 Jack Cullen (St Albans), 14 Micaal McFarlane (Skinners’), 13 Tyler Weeks (Sutton Valence), 12 Tobias Elliott (Berkhamsted), 11 Charlie Reynolds-West (Oaklands College), 10 Harry Legg (Simon Langton), 9 Charlie Bracken (St Albans), 1 Freddie Chapman (Oaklands College), 2 James Isaacs (Berkhamsted), 3 Charlie Keith (Berkhamsted), 4 Anthony Mark (Ashford), 5 Max Eke (St George’s, Harpenden), 6 Barnaby Merrett (Sutton Valence), 7 Luca Fahy (Berkhamsted), 8 Nathan Michelow (Sutton Valence).

Replacements: 16 Alex Witchell (Langley Park), 17 Ikhi Osebor (Haileybury), 18 Tony Erhawah (St Olave’s Grammar), 19 Olamide Sodeke (Gravesend Grammar), 20 Kennedy Sylvester (Simon Langton), 21 Jacob Ray (Sutton Valence), 22 Tom Barton (Sutton Valence), 23 Toby Clinch (Finborough).

London Irish

15 George Cubitt Makepeace (Henley College), 14 Matt Salisbury (Bishop Wand), 13 Oscar Daniel (Mill Hill), 12 Connor Cross (Hampton), 11 Sam Rockley (Bishop Wand), 10 Rory Taylor (Wellington College), 9 Ollie Allan (Bishop Wand), 1 Tolii Reeves-Hall (Bishop Wand), 2 Rhys Day (Epsom College), 3 Afolabi Fasogbon (Bishop Wand), 4 Oliver Stirling (Harrow), 5 Jarlaith Gleeson (City of London Freemen’s), 6 Roman Barton-Knott (Bishop Wand), 7 Louie Kirkham (Bishop Wand, captain), 8 Kade Bird (Epsom College).

Replacements: 16 Thierry White (Wellington College), 17 Oran Murphy (Hinchley Wood), 18 Kassim Dawud (Bishop Wand), 19 Connor O’Byrne (Wellington College), 20 Will Dempster (Claire’s Court), 21 Oscar Grantham (Bishop Wand), 22 Solomon Arbuthnot-Whittaker (Wellington College).

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Round 2 Results:

North

Leicester Tigers 15-33 Sale Sharks

Northampton Saints 36-19 Yorkshire Academy

Wasps 20-14 Newcastle Falcons

Worcester Warriors – Bye

South

Bristol Bears 25-3 Gloucester

Harlequins 21-17 London Irish

Saracens 39-12 Bath

Exeter Chiefs – Bye

Round 1 Results:

North

Northampton Saints 36-22 Leicester Tigers 

Worcester Warriors 13-40 Sale Sharks

Yorkshire Academy 0-36 Wasps

Newcastle Falcons – Bye

South

Bath 12-27 Bristol Bears

Exeter Chiefs 12-46 Saracens

London Irish 41-17 Gloucester

Harlequins – Bye

Future Fixtures:

Round 4

North

Leicester Tigers v Yorkshire Academy – Saturday 15^th Jan, 5pm, Loughborough Uni

Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons – Sunday 16^th Jan, 2pm, Heywood Road

Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints – Sunday 16^th Jan, time TBC, Sixways

Wasps – Bye

South

Bath v London Irish – Saturday 15^th Jan, 12.15pm Chippenham RFC

Bristol Bears v Saracens – Saturday 15^th Jan, 1.30pm, Dings Crusaders

Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins – Saturday 15^th Jan, 12pm, Truro College

Gloucester – Bye

Round 5

North

Newcastle Falcons v Worcester Warriors – Saturday 22^nd Jan, 2pm, Kingston Park

Wasps v Northampton Saints – Saturday 22^nd Jan, 2pm, Aylesbury RFC

Yorkshire Academy v Sale Sharks – Sunday 23^rd Jan, 3pm, Keighly RUFC

Leicester Tigers – Bye

South

Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester – Saturday 22^nd Jan, 2pm, Truro College

Harlequins v Bath – Saturday 22^nd Jan, 2pm, Venue TBC

London Irish v Bristol Bears – Saturday 22^nd Jan, 1pm, Hazelwood

Saracens – Bye

Round 6

North

Newcastle Falcons v Yorkshire Academy – Saturday 5^th Feb, 2pm, Kingston Park

Sale Sharks v Wasps – Sunday 6^th Feb, time TBC, Manchester Met Uni

Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers, Saturday 5^th Feb, 2pm, Sixways

Northampton Saints – Bye

South

Harlequins v Bristol Bears – Saturday 5^th Feb, 2pm, Cobham RFC

Gloucester v Saracens – Saturday 5^th Feb, 2pm, Cheltenham Tigers

London Irish v Exeter Chiefs – Saturday 5^th Feb, 1.30pm, Hazelwood

Bath – Bye

Round 7

North

Leicester Tigers v Wasps – Saturday 12^th Feb 5pm, Welford Road

Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons – Saturday 12^th Feb, 2pm, Franklin’s Gardens

Yorkshire Academy v Worcester Warriors – Saturday 12^th Feb, 2pm, Doncaster Knights

Sale Sharks – Bye

South

Bristol Bears v Exeter Chiefs – Saturday 12^th Feb, Dings Crusaders

Gloucester v Bath – Saturday 12^th Feb, 2pm, Kingsholm

Saracens v Harlequins – Saturday 12^th Feb, 1pm, StoneX

London Irish – Bye

Finals Day: Saturday/Sunday 19^th/20^th February – Venue TBC (7 games)