Round 4 of the Prem Rugby Next Gen league saw some thrilling games of rugby and some crucial results as sides build momentum ahead of the next five rounds before finals day.
Yorkshire Academy had the bye this week, so they had the ability to watch the other games and assess ahead of the forthcoming weeks.
There was plenty to assess. On Saturday reigning champions Northampton Saints made a huge statement with a 33-0 away win at Leicester Tigers, who had been riding high in second place. The result sees Saints surge form mid-table to second place, bumping Tigers down to third place.
Still sitting pretty at the top of the table are Bath, the only unbeaten side in the league. They were in action at home at Chippenham RFC against a strong Gloucester side. An epic game of rugby broke out, with both sides in free-scoring form, but it was Bath that took the spoils with a fantastic 50-31 display, leaving them three points clear of Saints. Gloucester meanwhile sit in 5th ahead of next week’s home game against Bristol Bears.
Bristol Bears will arrive at that game with real confidence after their first victory of the campaign, a stunning 55-20 victory over Exeter Chiefs, who had been sitting in third. Exeter only slip a place to fourth, while Bristol remain in 10th, however a bonus points win could see them level on points with Exeter by the next round.
On Sunday came the game of the weekend at Gordon’s School, an epic London derby as Harlequins hosted Saracens. Saracens led 14-12 in the dying seconds by Harlequins fly half Sam Marshall stepped up from inside his own half to land a penalty for a last-gasp 15-14 victory, just as he had for Whitgift School in the Continental Tyres Schools Cup quarter finals just before the Christmas break. It bumps Quins up to 6th in the table, while Saracens sit in 8th place ahead of their trip to Sale Sharks.
It will be a confident Sale Sharks that they face. On Sunday Sale picked up their first victory of the campaign, and a brilliant one too, 31-17 against the previously unbeaten Newcastle Red Bulls. It was a first home game for Sale and they showed what a force they can be, they may still sit in 9th, but the higher echelons of the table are not too far away, indeed Newcastle in 7th are just two points ahead, Tigers in third just two further ahead.
Prem Rugby Next Gen Round 4 Results:
Saturday 3rd January
Bath 50-31 Gloucester
Bristol Bears 55-20 Exeter Chiefs
Leicester Tigers 0-33 Northampton Saints
Sunday 4th January
Harlequins 15-14 Saracens
Sale Sharks 31-17 Newcastle Red Bulls
Standings:
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | BPs | Points |
| 1 | Bath | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 18 |
| 2 | Northampton Saints | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | Leicester Tigers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 | Exeter Chiefs | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 5 | Gloucester | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 6 | Harlequins | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 7 | Newcastle Red Bulls | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 8 | Saracens | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 9 | Sale Sharks | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 10 | Bristol Bears | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 11 | Yorkshire Academy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Round 4 Team News:
Bath:
15 Sam Bunch (Beechen Cliff), 14 Harry Jones (Beechen Cliff), 13 Aston Barrington-Hibbert (Millfield), 12 Declan Treacey (Beechen Cliff, co-captain), 11 Ryan Carr (The Forest), 10 Max Hooper (Beechen Cliff, co-captain), 9 Ollie Lewis (Beechen Cliff), 1 Henry Veale (Beechen Cliff), 2 Freddie Beasley (Millfield), 3 Ned Cartwright (Beechen Cliff), 4 Ben Allen (Wellington College), 5 Henry Ball (Beechen Cliff), 6 Alex Yeabsley (Millfield), 7 Caspar Dalby-Welsh (Beechen Cliff), 8 Georgia Faosiliva (Hartpury College).
Replacements: 16 Malachi Randolph (Harrow), 17 Theo Lewis-Zydbel (Beechen Cliff), 18 Sid Moore (Millfield), 19 Taotafa Faosiliva (Hartpury College), 20 Harry Hellier (Wells Cathedral), 21 Oscar Harrison (Marlborough College), 22 Cynyr MacRae (Hartpury College), 23 Tom Meredith (Beechen Cliff).
Gloucester:
15 Tomos Evans (Hartpury College), 14 Kwabena Ofosu-Apea (King’s Gloucester), 13 Krystof Wood (Bromsgrove), 12 Max Jefferies (Stourport HS), 11 Kai Wilkinson (St Edward’s, Oxford), 10 Oli Hewitt (Bromsgrove), 9 Luca Woodyatt (Wycliffe College), 1 Sam Bryant (Hartpury College), 2 Teddy Smith-Milne (Clifton College), 3 Ben Koolen (Bloxham), 4 Jamie Wallace (Dean Close), 5 Ed Bowyer (The Piggot), 6 Rakhat Clarkson (Hartpury College), 7 Felix Baker (Hartpury College), 8 Henry Horsfall (King’s Worcester, captain).
Replacements: 16 Ned Holt (Abingdon), 17 Dan Jones (Cheltenham College), 18 Arjun Mann (KES Stratford), 19 Josh de Waal (St Edward’s, Oxford), 20 Jack Bennett (Cheltenham College), 21 Theo Rogers (Hartpury College), 22 Mukeah Turay (St Edward’s, Oxford), 23 Ieuan Jeffreys-Steel (Stourport HS).
Bristol Bears:
15 Glen Gammell (Clifton College), 14 Caspar Reeves (Taunton), 13 Will Moore (Clifton College), 12 Bruno Lamb (SGS College), 11 George Williams (UCS College), 10 Lewis Popple (Clifton College), 9 Monty Jones (King’s Gloucester), 1 Kaiden Corbett (SGS College), 2 Casper Wheeler (Hartpury College), 3 Evan Davies (Clifton College), 4 Will Papp (SGS College), 5 Monty Wells (Taunton, captain), 6 Jake Smith (Clifton College), 7 Austin Parsons (SGS College), 8 Michael Whittaker (Collegiate).
Replacements: 16 Harry Edwards (Wellington), 17 Ben Thomas (Hartpury College), 18 Jamie McKelvey (Collegiate), 19 Ned Hill (SGS College), 20 Jayjay Hancock (Richard Huish), 21 Evan Russell (SGS College), 22 Harry Randall (Collegiate).
Exeter Chiefs:
15 Ruben Chugg (Exeter College), 14 Archie Guyver (Exeter College), 13 Charlie Bosanko (Exeter College), 12 George Blackburn (Exeter College), 11 Brandon Mua (Truro College), 10 Will Lane (Exeter College), 9 Alistair Kennedy (Truro College), 1 Mawgan Talling (Exeter College, captain), 2 Diego Lerro (Exeter College), 3 Josh Bratt (Exeter College), 4 Harry Friggens (Truro College), 5 Jeremy Keys (Exeter College), 6 Oisin Smith (Exeter College), 7 Harry Westlake (Exeter College), 8 Alfie Johns (Exeter College).
Replacements: 16 Theo McKay (Exeter College), 17 Louis Tout (Ivybridge), 19 Hudson Edkins (Exeter College), 20 Harrison Riley (Exeter College), 21 Alex Evans (Exeter College), 22 Charlie Hill (Exeter College), 23 Bailey Stapleton (Exeter College).
Leicester Tigers:
15 Will Payton (Warwick) O, 14 Nathaniel Robinson (Bromsgrove) N, 13 Ollie Myall (City of Oxford, co-captain) M, 12 Lochie Glackin (Denstone College) L, 11 Christian Gordon-Astbury (Hartpury College) K, 10 Oscar Talbot (Rugby) J, 9 James Townsend (Warwick) I, 1 Kajetan Lewandowski (Loughborough College) A, 2 Alex Catcheside (Loughborough College) B, 3 Seva Batikora (Loughborough College) C, 4 Fin Charles (Denstone College) D, 5 Kwame Bekoe (Norwich) E, 6 Dylan Chessum (Loughborough College) F, 7 Mackinley Jones (Oakham) H, 8 Henry Johnson (Oakham, co-captain) G.
Replacements: 16 Oliver Robinson (Loughborough College) P, 17 Thomas Court (Loughborough College) Q, 18 Joe Edmunds (Denstone College) R, 19 Josh Poyser (Loughborough College) S, 20 Joe Henstock (Denstone College) T, 21 James Alcock (Loughborough College) U, 22 Harrison Brooks (Stamford) V, 23 Abdul Bah-Bah (Coventry College) W.
Northampton Saints:
15 Hardy Linnell (Bloxham), 14 William Howes (Moulton College), 13 Will Catley (Stowe), 12 Ashton Cox (Northampton School for Boys), 11 Charlie Tamani (Finborough), 10 Sonny Goode (Bloxham, captain), 9 Jack Woods (Impington College), 1 Aiden Reid (Northampton School for Boys), 2 Ferdi Barnett-Vincent (Northampton School for Boys), 3 Noah Buxton (Moulton College), 4 Rafferty Hewitt (Bedford), 5 George Tonga’uiha (Northampton School for Boys), 6 Ronan Perkins (Bedford Modern), 7 Jack Lewis (Northampton School for Boys), 8 Will Hepher (Northampton School for Boys).
Replacements: 16 Kingsley Gallimore (City of Oxford), 17 Lucas Veevers (Moulton College), 19 Connor Wright (Stowe), 20 Charlie Hammick (Harrow), 21 Caelin Chin (Northampton School for Boys), 22 Fin Shields (Northampton School for Boys), 23 Elijah Jeyes (Wellington College).
Harlequins:
15 Ben Perkins (Bishop Wand), 14 Luc Springate (Epsom College), 13 Jack Tyler (Newman College), 12 Jack Cosgrove (Seaford College), 11 Louis Elsom (Gordon’s), 10 Sam Marshall (Whitgift), 9 Max Rawlinson (KCS Wimbledon), 1 Josh Andrews (Seaford College), 2 Jakob Thompson (Gordon’s), 3 Josh Steel (Newman College), 4 Jack Beswick (Epsom College), 5 Henry Laidlow (Trinity, captain), 6 Kaiden Watson (Trinity), 7 Harry Chilcott (RGS Guildford), 8 Jack Kemp (Cranleigh).
Replacements: 17 Louca Harrison (Bishop Wand), 18 Sam Smith (Gordon’s), 19 Jonny Fleming (Gordon’s), 20 Ben Hislop (Bishop Wand), 21 Stan Amor (Hampton), 22 Jaiden King (Newman College), 23 Flynn Roberts (Epsom College).
Saracens:
15 Austen Burns (Berkhamsted), 14 Barney Hooks (Oaklands College), 13 Rory Humphries (Berkhamsted), 12 Zac Jones (Mill Hill, captain), 11 Freddie Stewart (Berkhamsted), 10 Henry Hodgson (Mill Hill), 9 Charlie Heard (Berkhamsted), 1 Ben Beadle (Sedbergh), 2 Tiane Elone (Mill Hill), 3 Tom Dargan (Harrow), 4 Gus Chukwuemeka (Harrow), 5 Freddie Jones (Sutton Valence), 6 PJ Judlow (Berkhamsted), 7 AJ Henry (Mill Hill), 8 Ediz Karsak (The Judd).
Replacements: 16 Charles Rotimi (Campion), 17 Dylan Jenkins (Campion), 18 Jesse Gill (Hartpury College), 19 Oli Knight (Berkhamsted), 20 Obi Spencer (Oaklands College), 21 Will Birbeck (Harrow), 22 Eli de Venecia (Harrow), 23 Charlie Morgan (Mill Hill).
Sale Sharks:
15 Austin Keogh (Macclesfield Campus, vc), 14 Alex Wood (Kirkham GS), 13 Ed Millachip (Kirkham GS), 12 Adam Jacques (Sedbergh), 11 Charlie Fletcher (Ellesmere College), 10 Tom Jacques (Sedbergh), 9 Will Bayston (Sedbergh), 1 Fergus Hayles (Kirkham GS), 2 Morgan Simmonds (Bishop Heber), 3 Lawrence Ogbonnaya (Kirkham GS), 4 Nico Jones (Sedbergh), 5 James Moore (Sedbergh), 6 Ethan Banks (AKS Lytham), 7 Charlie Bray (Kirkham GS, captain), 8 Jordan Ikeh (Stockport GS, vc).
Replacements: 16 Ben Rosenthal (Sedbergh), 17 Archie Blackburn (Kirkham GS), 18 Olly McCall (Sedbergh), 19 Isaac Whalley (Kirkham GS), 20 Victor Joulie (Ellesmere College), 21 Jack Bowbeer (Sandbach), 22 Cieran Milligan (Kirkham GS), 23 Vojtech Nevicky.
Newcastle Red Bulls:
15 Ajay Edwards (Durham), 14 Alfie Warwick (Gosforth Academy), 13 Sam Owens (Gosforth Academy), 12 Matty Dunn (Gosforth Academy), 11 Jonny Douglas (Gosforth Academy), 10 Charlie Dineen (Sedbergh), 9 Toby Somersall (Newcastle School for Boys), 1 Sonny Hopper (Barnard Castle), 2 Josh Doran (Gosforth Academy), 3 Myles Alder (Bede Academy), 4 Dom Henderson (Gosforth Academy), 5 Joe Browell (Hartlepool 6th form College), 6 Ben Jewsbury (Sedbergh), 7 Charlie Evans (Hartlepool 6th form College), 8 Jono Broadbent (Gosforth Academy, captain).
Replacements: 16 Will Graham (Dame Allan’s), 17 Jack Nesbitt (Sedbergh), 18 Mason Proudlock (Gosforth Academy), 19 Adam Rocks (Park View), 20 Sam Parks (Gosforth Academy), 21 Joe Syson (Hartlepool 6thform College), 22 Ted Fletcher (Newcastle School for Boys), 23 Ollie Ashton (Sedbergh).
Prem Rugby Next Gen Results:
Round 3:
Bath 31-5 Bristol Bears
Exeter Chiefs 27-14 Gloucester
Leicester Tigers 31-10 Yorkshire Academy
Northampton Saints 67-40 Sale Sharks
Newcastle Red Bulls 26-19 Harlequins
Round 2:
Bath 38-19 Harlequins
Exeter Chiefs 62-7 Sale Sharks
Gloucester 33-7 Northampton Saints
Newcastle Red Bulls 29-22 Leicester Tigers
Yorkshire Academy 12-52 Saracens
Round 1:
Bristol Bears 33-66 Harlequins
Leicester Tigers 38-31 Sale Sharks
Northampton Saints 64-51 Exeter Chiefs
Saracens 45-45 Bath
Yorkshire Academy 26-40 Gloucester
Prem Rugby Next Gen Fixture List 2025/26:
Round 5
Saturday 10th January
Exeter Chiefs v Bath – 2pm, Flowerpot Playing Fields
Gloucester v Bristol Bears – 1pm, 4Ed Hartpury Stadium with Vodafone
Harlequins v Yorkshire Academy – 3pm, Gordon’s School
Newcastle Red Bulls v Northampton Saints – 3pm, Kingston Park
Sale Sharks v Saracens – 3pm, TBC
Round 6
Saturday 17th January
Gloucester v Sale Sharks – 1pm, 4Ed Hartpury Stadium with Vodafone
Harlequins v Exeter Chiefs – 3pm, Gordon’s School
Newcastle Red Bulls v Bath – 3pm, TBC
Saracens v Leicester Tigers – 1pm, StoneX
Yorkshire Academy v Bristol Bears – 2pm, TBC
Round 7
Saturday 31st January
Bath v Leicester Tigers – 2pm, Allington Fields
Bristol Beas v Newcastle Red Bulls – 3pm, Bristol Uni (Coombe Dingle)
Exeter Chiefs v Yorkshire Academy – 12.30pm, Flowerpot Playing Fields
Harlequins v Northampton Saints – 3pm, Gordon’s School
Saracens v Gloucester – 1pm, StoneX
Round 8
Saturday 7th February
Bristol Bears v Saracens – 3pm, Shaftesbury Park
Leicester Tigers v Exeter Chiefs – 2pm, TBC
Northampton Saints v Bath – 3pm, TBC
Sale Sharks v Harlequins – 3pm, TBC
Yorkshire Academy v Newcastle Red Bulls – 1pm, Keighley RUFC
Round 9
Saturday 14th February
Gloucester v Leicester Tigers – 11am, 4Ed Hartpury Stadium with Vodafone
Northampton Saints v Bristol Bears – 3pm, TBC
Sale Sharks v Yorkshire Academy – 3pm, TBC
Saracens v Newcastle Red Bulls – 11am, StoneX
Round 10
Saturday 21st February – Finals Day
Past Champions:
2025 Northampton Saints
2024 Bath Rugby
2023 London Irish
2022 Bristol Bears
2021 N/A
2020 Leicester Tigers/London Irish
2019 Leicester Tigers
2018 Leicester Tigers
2017 Harlequins
2016 London Irish
2015 Saracens
2014 Northampton Saints
2013 Northampton Saints
