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Premiership U18 Finals Day a respite for controversy-hit English rugby
Amidst the drama of Saracens’ salary cap infractions, the reports that South Africa could soon join the Guinness Six Nations and the shocking revelations that the RFU will cut Greene King IPA Championship sides’ funding in half, there is, thankfully, some actual rugby to watch this weekend.
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With the Six Nations on a rest week, the Gallagher Premiership and Guinness Top 14 return, although if you prefer your rugby with an eye on the future, the Premiership U18 Academy Finals Day is set to be played at Sixways Stadium on Sunday.
It is the culmination of the league which consists of the U18 sides of the 14 Premiership Rugby Limited academies and Worcester will play host to the 5th/6th place, 3rd/4th place and 1st/2nd place playoffs, with plenty of new faces among the contending teams.
The likes of Harlequins, Wasps and Sale Sharks, who have all been regulars at Finals Day in recent seasons, are not involved this year, with a fresh cast of the likes of Worcester Warriors, Bristol Bears and Newcastle Falcons on display instead.
We have taken a look at the three matches below and picked out a number of players to keep an eye on from the sides involved.
Continue reading below…
Watch: Dai Young to step back at Wasps
Bristol Bears vs Newcastle Falcons, 5th/6th place playoff
This is a refreshing match-up of two teams that rarely get to this stage of the competition, as they can often struggle against the sides that boast more fruitful recruiting regions in the country. It’s a testament to the coaching staff at the two clubs, as well as the work done by the schools in their respective regions, that they have been able to make their way to the playoffs this year.
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Bristol are built around their SGS Filton core, with dynamic wing Deago Bailey, imposing lock Charlie Rice and skilful loosehead Andrew Turner representing not only Bristol and SGS Filton, but have also been recently called up to the England U18 training camp set to take place in the February half term. They are joined in that England training squad by Colston’s fly-half TJ Wilstead, whilst another SGS Filton student, versatile back three player Chay Mullins, is already in the sights of the Irish Exiles programme.
Up at Newcastle and they are also built around a strong core from a particularly impressive RGS Newcastle side. Props Mark Dormer and Phil Brantingham have plenty of potential, whilst scrum-half James Blackett has been a more than steady hand on the tiller for the side from the north-east. They are also able to call upon a talented Gosforth Academy contingent, which includes free-scoring wing Matty Ward, with both Ward and Brantingham set to join those Bristol players in the England U18 training camp later this month.
It's been a Wednesday of mounting fury in Championship rugby circles… @chrisjonespress hears from two club coaches furious with the RFU's budget cut https://t.co/S4guDoJjDN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 12, 2020
Saracens vs Worcester Warriors, 3rd/4th place playoff
Whilst Saracens are a fairly regular sight at these season-ending events, Worcester are not, and it is again of particular credit to their coaches and local schools that they have been able to make it all the way to second spot in the northern conference. Home advantage should definitely help Warriors with this game scheduled for the first kick-off on Sunday, which will prompt an early start from the travelling Saracens players.
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One of the defining characteristics of Saracens this season has been the dominance of their scrum and set-piece, and that group is spearheaded by Felsted loosehead Tristan Smith. He and club and school teammates Sam Bryan and Obinna Nkwocha have all made the cut for the England U18 training camp, with the scrum-half and lock respectively both having also gone very well this season for the Londoners. The offensively talented Brandon Jackson of Sutton Valence and well-rounded Berkhamsted back rower Toby Knight complete Saracens’ five-man England contingent.
As for Worcester, their hopes of finishing third overall will be led by Warwick pair Jack Forsythe and Fin Smith. Forsythe, a versatile back row, was unlucky to miss out on playing for England last season as injury ruined his chances for the annual tour to South Africa, whilst Smith, a gifted fly-half, has arguably been the standout player at his position over the course of the academy season. They will be more than ably assisted by the Bromsgrove duo of scrum-half Ollie Wynn and centre Seb Atkinson, with Worcester’s 9-10-12 axis of Wynn, Smith and Atkinson as good as any the league has seen in recent years.
They're fuming over the lack of consultation
https://t.co/KuCtIKPjgU— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 12, 2020
London Irish vs Leicester Tigers, 1st/2nd place playoff
This is the big-ticket match-up. Tigers have won the last two Premiership U18 titles and look in ominously good shape to complete the ‘threepeat’ on Sunday, whilst Irish lifted the trophy in 2016 under then Academy Director Nick Kennedy. Gloucester have been unable to stop Leicester in the last two finals, so the challenge now falls to the Exiles on Sunday.
Irish were in a strong position coming into the academy season, with their affiliate side, St Paul’s Catholic College, having triumphed in the AASE competition and providing the core of the Irish U18 group. Props Tarek Haffar and Joe Keohane, back three players Michael Dykes and Alex Harmes, and scrum-half Rory Morgan all call the school home and will prove influential on Sunday. Elsewhere, Will Joseph of Millfield, Joe Vajner of Whitgift and Monty Bradbury and Marcus Rhodes, both of Wellington College, are also among the Irish players who will need to come to the fore if they are to stop the juggernaut that is Tigers U18s.
And worryingly for Irish, Leicester are once again loaded for talent, despite having seen a number of stellar players graduate to the senior academy over the past two seasons. Hooker Archie Vanes and scrum-half Sam Edwards of Brooksby Melton College will make themselves known, as will Leicester Grammar School tighthead Jack Rowntree and Denstone College centre Ollie Smith. Perhaps where the side is strongest, though, is in the back row, where Oakham’s Kit Smith and Rugby School’s Emeka Ilione and Ben Muncaster all prowl. It’s a pack that can do a lot of damage if Irish can’t match up physically.
Watch: The Academy – Part One
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
1 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to comments