Reed excited to get Saints Academy season underway this weekend

Northampton Saints Academy get their 2024/25 season underway this weekend, with head coach Charlie Reed excited by the array of talent within his ranks.

Both the club’s Under-17s and Under-18s sides are travelling north to take on their Sale Sharks counterparts in a double header at Heywood Road on Sunday 5 January.

It is the start of a month-long four game burst of fixtures that is followed by the Premiership’s Under-18 Academy League finals day on Sunday 16 February.

“We spoke a lot around having some really good memories together, and it’s a really short period that we actually get to go and showcase what we’re about,” said Reed.

“We’ve got the likes of Edoardo Todaro, who as an Under-18 has been representing Italy Under-20, and it feels like a tall group this year with guys like Archie Appleby, Jack Lawrence and Ollie Hull bringing us plenty of ballast.

“I think what I really like about this group of boys is that they’re fantastic characters. They’re lads that are really conscious about jelling as a group. They’re very polite. They’re well-mannered young men and they actually just really are looking forward to playing for each other as well. 

“We’ve got some real good talent that hopefully everyone will get to see, but they are also really good characters that I am really enjoying working with.”

In Reed’s first season in charge, Saints reached the final of the Premiership’s Under-18 Academy League. Unfortunately, for a third successive season, the young Saints just missed out on glory, as Bath pipped them to the trophy.

With his feet now firmly under the table at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, Reed has enjoyed a stronger influence and is now itching to see his side take to the field.

“This Club’s been brilliant for me, I have been given a lot of room to try and run the programme how I see fit and learn as I go,” he said. “Hoppers [Mark Hopley] has been fantastic for my development to allow me to navigate how I want the programme to look, and has been a really good guide for me in that space. 

“Last year was about figuring out what a year looks like in this role, and now I am putting a bit more of an identity on what the programme looks like, so it’s been fantastic and I am excited to have some fixtures coming up.”

Saints Academy’s only regular-season loss in 2024 came at the hands of Sunday’s opponents, as Sale Sharks ran out winners in a 49-42 January thriller in Manchester.

Reed said: “We haven’t won up there for a while. Sale are always a tough and physical side, but the boys are really looking forward to the challenge. 

“We’ve got some tough trips going up to Sale and going up to Newcastle, but we’ve also Leicester Tigers back at cinch Stadium too. There’s so many good opportunities for us to make some good memories, and for these boys to put on a Saints shirt and show what they can do.”