12 players that will be making and taking names in the 2018/19 Premiership

As the 2017/18 Aviva Premiership begins to wind down, eyes are already beginning to turn towards the next campaign.

With a mixture of post-British and Irish Lions tour fatigue, new law adaptations to deal with and early European exits, it has been far from a stellar season for the Premiership clubs.

Directors of rugby up and down the country will be hoping that next season offers better fortunes and one way they can go about ensuring that happens, is by using the few remaining games in this campaign to get their emerging players ready for the demands of a full season of senior rugby.

We have picked one young player at each Premiership club who is ready for more action and could do with their senior career being kickstarted ahead of a season they will hope to breakout in.

Josh Bayliss, Bath

The openside has impressed in the opportunities he has been afforded so far this season and with the trio of Francois Louw, Taulupe Faletau and Sam Underhill susceptible to both injury and international duty, with Zach Mercer also on the fringe of the England squad, ensuring Bayliss is ready to take on a larger role next season is key for Bath.

We have seen Bath try to play the power game with teams this season and come unstuck, so having an operator like Bayliss, who is more naturally adept at influencing the contact area than any of their back-rowers other than Louw, is important to give them a second dimension to their playing style.

Jack Maunder, Exeter Chiefs

After breaking through last season when Exeter’s scrum-half depth was sorely tested and then involved with the England squad during their summer tour of Argentina, it’s been a disappointing sophomore season for Maunder. He has been largely limited to turning out in the A League, a competition in which he captained Exeter, as well as the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

With Will Chudley leaving for Bath in the summer, Maunder will be bumped up in the pecking order and should see more playing time as a result. A playoff spot has already been secured and anything other than a semi-final at Sandy Park looks extremely unlikely at this point, so give the talented nine a run.

Ciaran Knight, Gloucester

The ever-reliable and durable John Afoa makes his way to Bristol next season, so ensuring the club’s stock of tighthead props is in as healthy position as possible will be high on Johan Ackermann’s agenda. It’s a tough position to transition from the age-grades to the seniors at and a few appearances off the bench for Knight would not only do wonders for his confidence, but also be a great gauge for Ackermann as to how his development is going.

Good tightheads are worth their weight in gold – something agents take a little too literally – so working out what they have in Knight seems the logical next step for a Gloucester side that has taken a big step forwards this season in terms of their consistency and their defence.

Gabriel Ibitoye, Harlequins

A real no-brainer, here. Ibitoye is an electric talent and has all the makings of an excellent wing or outside centre, with his lack of height all that is really preventing him from being the prototype modern back-three player. He has excelled at age-grade and A League levels and a prolonged run in the Premiership is the next step to ascertain where he is in his development.

The arrival of Nathan Earle will add further congestion to the wing spot next season, so giving Ibitoye a head start over the next few weeks certainly wouldn’t hurt. Quins are in a real mire right now and he could be just the spark to reignite the Londoners and get them back on the front foot, with very little of consequence left to play for this season.

Joe Heyes, Leicester Tigers

Another tighthead and like Knight, another player worth kicking the tires on now, despite the fact he’s still a year Knight’s junior. Heyes was impressive during the U20 Six Nations and looked as though he had made significant strides forward from his performances at the U18 level last season, something which is particularly impressive at a position as physically demanding as tighthead prop.

Whether or not he will ultimately develop into Dan Cole’s long-term successor remains to be seen, but the early signs are promising and a few spells off the bench could do wonders for him to finish the season, before he heads off to the World Rugby U20 Championship with England. Leicester are currently in a dogfight for a playoff spot or, at the very least, Champions Cup qualification, but Cole has shown multiple times before that he can be an effective 80-minute player, making Heyes’ spot on the bench less of a risk than it might be at other clubs.

Josh Basham, London Irish

There’s a very good chance Irish will be relegated this year and, unfortunately, that means some talented players will be off, including a handful of their more promising youngsters. If this comes to be, making sure some of the youngsters who will be staying are in a good place to compete in the Championship next season would be an important fillip for Declan Kidney and Les Kiss.

Basham bucks the recent trend of the Irish academy of producing very gifted backs, but fewer standouts in the forward pack, with the back-rower versatile, powerful, quick and skilful. He could be a foundation piece to build around as Kidney and Kiss put their stamp on the side, so finding out how he copes at the Premiership level over the next few weeks would be very beneficial.

Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, Newcastle Falcons

A bit of a curveball, here, with Nordli-Kelemeti still an U18 and not signing professional terms until the summer, but injuries to Sonatane Takulua and Mickey Young do offer Falcons a rare opportunity. He’s not ready to start at the Premiership level, but he could provide plenty of zip off the bench and get an important first taste of the speed and power of the senior game.

Newcastle are sitting on a good group of U18s this season, arguably their best in the last 10 years, and Nordli-Kelemeti is the spearhead of the group. His control and game management would be interesting to watch, but he could certainly inject some incisive running if Newcastle were chasing a game.

Fraser Dingwall, Northampton Saints

Northampton’s defence has struggled at times this season and finding a new defensive lynchpin in the midfield ahead of Chris Boyd’s arrival would make for a nice welcoming present for the Kiwi. Dingwall’s defence is certainly in an impressive place given how young and inexperienced he is, and that side of the game is often the bigger challenge for a player fresh out of school, trying to make the leap to the next level.

As Dan Biggar looks set to take control of the 10 jersey next season, it will create opportunities for Piers Francis and James Grayson at 12, so there is scope to rebuild the entire midfield and examine new combinations, making this the perfect time to give Dingwall a run.

Cameron Redpath, Sale Sharks

Redpath has already been given a taste of senior rugby this season despite still being an U18 and there is no reason why he can’t go on to have a 2018/19 season like the one enjoyed by Marcus Smith over the last seven months. Physically, technically and mentally, he has all the hallmarks of a player capable of making an impact in his first season out of school.

The departures of Mike Haley and Will Addison should free up playing time at both full-back and in the midfield respectively, two positions which Redpath has experience playing at. As long as there are no clashes with his final school commitments and exams, there’s no reason why Redpath couldn’t be a valuable member of a Sale 23 over the final three games of the season.

Ben Earl, Saracens

Earl has had some decent spells in the Saracens team this year but if a weakness has been found in this Saracens squad, it is arguably their lack of back-row depth. With Mike Rhodes and Billy Vunipola injured and the versatile pairing of Maro Itoje and Nick Isiekwe regularly away with England, Saracens have looked thin in the back-row, relying heavily on the ageing Schalk Burger and consistent Jackson Wray, something which has prevented them from rotating and staying as fresh as they usually like to do.

A run in the Saracens 23, or even XV, over the final three regular season games and a good World Rugby U20s in France would be just the springboard the impressive back-rower needs to catapult himself into regular selection contention for next season. His ability to play across all three positions in the loose forward trio could be invaluable for Saracens next season, with their forward pack likely to be leant upon heavily by England again.

Will Porter, Wasps

A lively scrum-half, Porter could be a player of some importance for Wasps next season, with the club in an annual battle with the salary cap and Joe Simpson keen to try his luck elsewhere, having fallen behind Dan Robson in the pecking order. Porter has been limited to A League action this season, his first season out of school, and it would be good to see how he copes with the rigours of senior rugby.

He is not afraid to exploit any space given to him on the fringes and has the acceleration and speed to hurt teams, much as the current incumbent Robson does on a weekly basis. If the club are looking to replace Simpson with another like-for-like one-two punch with Robson, they could do much worse than give Porter a solid look to end the season.

Ollie Lawrence, Worcester Warriors

It’s frightening how easy Lawrence has made A League and Anglo-Welsh Cup rugby look this season, despite still being at school. The early indications are that the already substantial South African flavour at Worcester is only going to increase under Alan Solomons and Rory Duncan, so getting a late taste of action this season might be Lawrence’s best bet for showing he belongs at this level already.

Obviously, relegation is still a significant risk in Worcester’s season, but if they can grab at least two points this weekend and London Irish fall to a bonus point-less defeat, that will see Irish relegated. There are then two pressure-free games for Lawrence, who can play 12 or 13, to showcase his considerable skills and accelerate his learning ahead of next season.

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