Northampton Saints and Bristol Bears stormed into the 2022 Premiership Rugby U18 Academy League final this weekend after both put in storming performances over the weekend to top their respective pools.
Bristol Bears just about had one foot in the final at the start of the weekend, but still had to get the job done against Exeter Chiefs or otherwise they were at the mercy of results elsewhere. They duly succeeded though, beating the visitors in a superb 38-17 victory to top the South Pool and reach the Premiership Rugby U18 Academy League Final as the only side in either conference with an unbeaten record.
Joining them in that final at Sixways a week on Sunday will be Northampton Saints. They had a winner takes all fixture at home against Newcastle Falcons after both had been in outstanding recent form. It was a bridge too far for Newcastle though as Saints put in a performance of real quality for a 37-19 victory to top the North pool by two points from East Midlands rivals Leicester Tigers.
That finish for Tigers was as a result of a superb 27-14 victory over Wasps, which saw them finish second in the North and Wasps, for whom victory would have seen them finish second, finishing sixth – which shows just how tight this pool was, first to sixth were separated by just seven points.
Tigers will face Harlequins in the third place play off after Quins put in one of their top displays of the season in an epic contest at StoneX Stadium on Sunday. They and Saracens were going head to head in the hope that should Bristol slip up, they would top the South Pool. It made for a thrilling game that ended with Harlequins winning 40-32. It left Saracens in third place, they will play Sale Sharks in the fifth place play off, who started the weekend in top spot in the North but knew that having a bye week would see them slip down the table.
The 7th place play off will see Newcastle Falcons take on Bath, Newcastle’s defeat at Saints saw them slip to fourth in the North Pool, while a victory for Bath at Gloucester, 31-12, saw them finish up in fourth in the South.
Worcester Warriors won a thriller at Yorkshire Academy, who came so close to a first victory of the campaign, 29-22, to give the Warriors a final placing of 5th in the North and a 9th place play off against London Irish, who had a bye week. Playing in the 11th place play off will be Wasps and Exeter Chiefs, defeats to Leicester Tigers and Bristol Bears leaving each of them in sixth place in their pools. The 13th place play off will see Yorkshire Academy and Gloucester go head to head, after neither recorded a victory through the league stage of the campaign.
The play off games are all scheduled to take place over the course of the weekend of the 26th and 27thFebruary, all at Worcester Warriors’ Sixways Stadium, with the final between Bristol Bears and Northampton Saints confirmed for the Sunday.
Finals Day Fixtures – Sunday 27th February, Sixways
Final: Northampton Saints v Bristol Bears
3rd Place Play Off: Leicester Tigers v Harlequins
5th Place Play Off: Sale Sharks v Saracens
7th Place Play Off: Newcastle Falcons v Bath
9th Place Play Off: Worcester Warriors v London Irish
11th Place Play Off: Wasps v Exeter Chiefs
13th Place Play Off: Yorkshire Academy v Gloucester
Final Tables
North Pool
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | BPs | Points |
| 1 | Northampton Saints | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 22 |
| 2 | Leicester Tigers | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
| 3 | Sale Sharks | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 19 |
| 4 | Newcastle Falcons | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 18 |
| 5 | Worcester Warriors | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| 6 | Wasps | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| 7 | Yorkshire Academy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
South Pool
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | BPs | Points |
| 1 | Bristol Bears | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 28 |
| 2 | Harlequins | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 24 |
| 3 | Saracens | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 22 |
| 4 | Bath | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 14 |
| 5 | London Irish | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| 6 | Exeter Chiefs | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Gloucester | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Images thanks to NickBImages (@nickbimages)
Round 7 Fixtures, Previews, & Team News:
North (Sale Sharks Bye Week)
Leicester Tigers 27-14 Wasps
Leicester Tigers
15 Ben Taylor (Oakham), 14 Malelili Satala (Brooksby Melton College), 13 George Loose (Gresham’s), 12 Joseph Woodward (Brooksby Melton College, captain), 11 Sam Jacques (Brooksby Melton College), 10 Morgan Meredith (Brooksby Melton College), 9 Matt Durbridge (Brooksby Melton College), 1 Tom Wand (Brooksby Melton College), 2 Max Nolan (Brooksby Melton College), 3 Nathan Hind (Brooksby Melton College), 4 Finn Carnduff (Leicester Grammar), 5 Joshua Manz (Northampton School for Boys), 6 Simon Koroiyadi (Trent College), 7 George Perkins (Denstone College), 8 Chester Owen (Brooksby Melton College).
Replacements: 16 Harry Clarke (Denstone College), 17 Ross Foxley (Brooksby Melton College), 18 Oliver Crane (Oakham), 19 Felix Starkey (Oakham), 20 Oliver Arnold (Uppingham), 21 Nicholas Gali (Denstone College), 22 Oscar van Deventer (Denstone College), 23 Alex Garrett (Denstone College).
Wasps
15 B Kucera, 14 E Rokodrava, 13 W Evans, 12 J Annand, 11 W Glister, 10 C Mason, 9 M Winterburn, 1 A O’Driscoll, 2 H Silman, 3 A Opoku-Fordjour, 4 C Bell, 5 T Clifford, 6 R Logan, 7 Z Newcombe, 8 B Pogson.
Replacements: 16 K Pittam, 17 O Blunsom-Washbrook, 18 J Farmer, 19 L McGowan, 20 C Gerber, 21 L Casilio, 22 R Sweeting, 23 D Barnett.
Northampton Saints 37-19 Newcastle Falcons
Northampton Saints
15 Jody Devine, 14 Ethan Thorne, 13 Toby Cousins, 12 Archie Kean, 11 Frankie Sleightholme, 10 Tommy Taylor, 9 Harry Hall, 1 Callum Smyth, 2 Craig Wright, 3 Nicholas Tarr, 4 Carn Richards-Farr, 5 George Lavender, 6 Ted Reid, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 George Patten (c).
Replacements: 16 Will Baker, 17 Sam Ferrari, 18 Will Lamprell, 19 James Bennett, 20 Levi Wilson, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Toby Thame, 23 Ewan Baker.
Newcastle Falcons
15 Ben Redshaw (Sedbergh), 14 Natty Greenwood (Gosforth Academy), 13 Jez Civil (Gosforth Academy), 12 Will Hindle (Gosforth Academy), 11 Toby Ferguson (QEHS Hexham), 10 Harry Williams (Barnard Castle), 9 Ben Douglas (Gosforth Academy), 1 Micky Rewcastle (Gosforth Academy), 2 Charlie Smith (Dame Allan’s), 3 Morgan Hall (Gosforth Academy), 4 Finn Baker (Sedbergh), 5 Ayden Knott (Gosforth Academy), 6 Braemar Murray (Sedbergh), 7 Ewan Venerus (RGS Newcastle), 8 Zach Oldham (Gosforth Academy).
Replacements: 16 Jacob Oliver (Barnard Castle), 17 Isaac Keller (Gosforth Academy), 18 Sam Birkbeck (QES Kirkby Lonsdale), 19 Will Murray (Gosforth Academy), 20 Will Gibbons (Barnard Castle), 21 Freddie Nickalls (RGS Newcastle), 22 Will Roue (Sedbergh), 23 Tom Burton (Sedbergh).
Yorkshire Academy 22-29 Worcester Warriors
Yorkshire Academy
15 B Turpin, 14 G Worthington, 13 B Horberry, 12 J Howells, 11 F Yates, 10 B Irvine, 9 J Harris (c), 1 A Medway, 2 L Inman, 3 P Parker, 4 T Burrow, 5 H Mathew, 6 H du Boulay, 7 J Billington, 8 H Willard.
Replacements: 16 J Briggs, 17 H Derbyshire, 18 T Raymont, 19 B Roscoe, 20 E Smith, 21 B Parkin, 22 D Talakai, 23 N Delailmolamoa.
Worcester Warriors
15 Dan Chambers (Stourport High), 14 Jack Kinder (Solihull), 13 Will Pugh (Stourport High), 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 Aaron Hackett (Stourport High), 4 Will Chater (King’s Worcester), 5 Harvey Cuckson (Ellesmere College), 6 Will Owen (Ellesmere College), 7 Theo Mayell (Monmouth, captain), 8 Max Truby (Old Swinford Hospital).
Replacements: 16 Ethan Allen (Stourport High), 17 Ellis Locke (Stourport High), 18 Emmanuel Olaleye (Old Swinford Hospital), 19 George Boyle (King’s Worcester), 20 Owen Boxall (Bishop Vesey’s Grammar), 21 Sam Hawes (King’s Worcester), 22 Billy McDonough (Bromsgrove), 23 Oli Smith (Hartpury College), 24 Billy Emerick (Stourport High), 25 Jacob Clarke (Bishop Vesey’s Grammar).
South (London Irish Bye Week)
Bristol Bears 38-17 Exeter Chiefs
Bristol Bears
15 Sami Hamid, 14 Gabe Lacey, 13 Isaac Campbell Wu, 12 Henry Hawkins, 11 Tom Ormsby, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Pete Carter, 1 Billy Marsden, 2 James Randall, 3 Jimmy Halliwell, 4 Ollie Thraves, 5 Paddy Pearce, 6 Aaron Tull (c), 7 Charlie Cox, 8 Ed Harvey.
Replacements: 16 George Davey, 17 Louis Trevett, 18 Billy Moran, 19 Pete Paramore, 20 Tom Gardner, 21 Rhys Price, 22 Lucas Berti, 23 Jake Smith.
Exeter Chiefs
15 Dan Hamilton-Strong, 14 Jack Statton, 13 Zack Wimbush, 12 George Edson, 11 Reuben Brinkley, 10 Ben Coen, 9 Joe Walker, 1 Joe Thompson, 2 Jack Ballett, 3 Archie Rolls, 4 Jake Salvi, 5 Joe Bailey (c), 6 Jago Sheppard, 7 Seth Findley, 8 Barnaby Elderkin.
Replacements: 16 Pete Harris, 17 Rowan Lawrence, 18 Tom Gulley, 19 Ed Spurway, 20 Will Saltmarsh, 21 Nat Dart, 22 Jeremy Tuima, 23 Jayden Oakes.
Gloucester 12-31 Bath
Gloucester
15 Ioan Jones (Dean Close), 14 Ben Peters (Dean Close), 13 Will Gilderson (Cheltenham College), 12 Tom Riman (Cheltenham College), 11 Archie Hossack (Hartpury College), 10 Keillen Cullen (Hartpury College), 9 Bailey Paetel (Hartpury College), 1 Tyler Harvey (Park House), 2 George Merritt (Dean Close, captain), 3 Berian Williams (Hartpury College), 4 Sam Vince (Hartpury College), 5 Sam Anson (Cleeve), 6 Casey Williams (Hartpury College), 7 Jack Hall (John Kyrle), 8 Finlay Jones (Hartpury College).
Replacements: 16 Sam Loftus (Sir Thomas Rich’s), 17 Will Hurn (Sir Thomas Rich’s), 18 Henry Pearson (Hartpury College), 19 Rhys Ford (Hartpury College), 20 Heath Gwilliam (Cheltenham College), 21 Joe Adams (Hartpury College), 22 Dave Samak (Hartpury College), 23 Nathan Thomson-Lee (Hartpury College).
Bath
15 Byron Lloyd-Gilmour, 14 Kamoto Kamanga-Dyrbak, 13 Max Ashton, 12 Will Parry, 11 Rory Crum, 10 Sam Harris (c), 9 Ieuan Davies, 1 Tom Hill, 2 Max Pearce, 3 Jaden Ephgrave, 4 Eddie Erskine, 5 Rory Cameron, 6 Jack Haythornthwaite, 7 Goerge Timmins, 8 JJ O’Connell-Wozniak.
Replacements: 16 Zak Dinning, 17 Harry Love, 18 Alex Peat Dibble, 19 Tom Roach, 20 Alex Salah, 21 Ollie Byrne, 22 Ruben Solomon-Gardner, 23 Raff Weston.
Saracens 32-40 Harlequins
Saracens
15 Harry Legg (Simon Langton Grammar), 14 Micaal McFarlane (Skinners’), 13 Tyler Weeks (Sutton Valence), 12 Jenson McInulty (Sutton Valence), 11 Tom Barton (Sutton Valence), 10 Louis Sinclair (Finborough), 9 Charlie Bracken (St Albans), 1 Freddie Chapman (Oaklands College), 2 James Isaacs (Berkhamsted), 3 Charlie Keith (Berkhamsted), 4 Olamide Sodeke (Gravesend Grammar), 5 Max Eke (St George’s, Harpenden), 6 Barnaby Merrett (Sutton Valence), 7 Luca Fahy (Berkhamsted), 8 Nathan Michelow (Sutton Valence).
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker (Hartpury College), 17 Ikhi Osebor (Haileybury), 18 Max Wheeler (Bethany), 19 James Boylan (Berkhamsted), 20 Ollie Webb (Berkhamsted), 21 Ben Mills (Brentwood), 22 Charlie Reynolds-West (Oaklands College), 23 Jack Cullen (St Albans).
Harlequins
15 Josh Bellamy (Trinity), 14 Ethan Knight (Hampton), 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 Tosin Teriba (Gordon’s), 2 Jack Doorey-Palmer (Worthing College), 3 Claudius Wheeler (St Paul’s), 4 Jonny Green (Seaford College), 5 Tom Golder (Gordon’s), 6 Theo Martin (Gordon’s), 7 Seb Driscoll (Whitgift), 8 Zach Carr (Dulwich College).
Replacements: 16 Will Ayton (Wellington College), 17 Ethan Clarke (Worthing College), 18 Caleb Ashworth (Gordons), 19 Ben Elsey (Gordon’s), 20 TBC, 21 Murdoch Lock (Wellington College), 22 Jamie Flatley (Whitgift), 23 Amir Sultan-Edwards (Millfield).
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Round 6 Results
North
Newcastle Falcons 24-14 Yorkshire Academy
Sale Sharks 12-22 Wasps
Worcester Warriors 28-35 Leicester Tigers
Northampton Saints – Bye
South
Harlequins 7-20 Bristol Bears
Gloucester 22-47 Saracens
London Irish 50-21 Exeter Chiefs
Bath – Bye
Round 5 Results
North
Newcastle Falcons 31-10 Worcester Warriors
Wasps 32-45 Northampton Saints
Yorkshire Academy 16-17 Sale Sharks
Leicester Tigers – Bye
South
Exeter Chiefs 17-14 Gloucester
Harlequins 31-21 Bath
London Irish 14-27 Bristol Bears
Saracens – Bye
Round 4 Results:
North
Leicester Tigers 37-14 Yorkshire Academy
Sale Sharks 12-26 Newcastle Falcons
Worcester Warriors 27-24 Northampton Saints
Wasps – Bye
South
Bath 19-14 London Irish
Bristol Bears 36-31 Saracens
Exeter Chiefs 24-29 Harlequins
Gloucester – Bye
Round 3 Results:
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
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
