Charlie Reed lauded the physicality of Northampton Saints’ Under-18s team as they powered to a second successive victory of the season.
The young Saints opened their 2024/25 Premiership Rugby U18 Academy League campaign with a 53-26 win over Yorkshire, before backing that up with a 40-12 success at Newcastle Falcons last weekend.
Henry Lumley marked his return to action with the game’s opening try and Jack Lewis also crossed the line, with two successful Hugh Shields conversions opening a 14-7 lead at the interval.
In the second period, the visitors added four more tries as Lewis grabbed his second, and was joined on the scoresheet by James Pater, Dylan Line and Lucas Veevers.
“The boys did really well to get away from some potential excuses in front of them, in terms of it being an early kick off (1pm) and it is a hell of a long way to go,” said Reed.
“The way they approached the game was really good. We spoke a lot about us wanting to put our game on them; the way we attack and the way that we defend.
“Big credit has got to go to our collision side of the game this week. To only concede two tries up there was brilliant.
”I thought our defence during our phase play was what really got us over the line in that game, so a massive credit to that side of the ball.“
Charlie Reed, Academy Coach
“We looked at a lot more in control of what we were doing. We’re not going to come on the right side of a result without the physical element of our game and I thought our breakdown collisions in attack and our collisions in defence were consistent throughout our performance.
“A good amount of credit that needs to go to Reece Marshall, who has come in this year to look after our defensive side of the game. He is being assisted and mentored by Mark Hopley in that area as well. Adding an extra coach and putting a bit more of an emphasis on it is starting to show in these games.”
Amongst the tryscorers was the returning Henry Lumley, who filled the boots in the centres of Italy Under-20 call-up Edoardo Todaro, with aplomb.
Two from two ✌️
— Saints Rugby Academy (@SaintsRugbyAcad) January 19, 2025
The Under-18s maintained their flying start to the @premrugby season in Newcastle yesterday afternoon.
🦅 12-40 😇 pic.twitter.com/AiY87J7sK4
“Henry was very good,” said Reed. “I’m a big fan of the way that he approaches the game. He’s got very relaxed manner about him and just wants to do his best for the team. For him to get the first try and then set up another try as well with a great line break was a really good welcome back for him.
“Jack Lewis looked very strong in just his second start within the Academy League. Physically, he looked very strong and scored two tries. Jack prides himself on the on the collision side of the game and for a 16-year-old to to put that stamp – not only in the Yorkshire game, but to back it up away at Newcastle – is a big credit to him.
“Special mention must also go to Siep Walta, our Dutch international number eight. He goes to Ipswich School and came over at a similar time to Edoardo. He has been very consistent with his performances and only seems to be getting better.”
The Under-17s also won 31-7 with centre Sonny Goode bagging a try, the man-of-the-match accolade and praise from Reed: “There’s not many players that can run lines the way that he can some of his line breaks and the way that he sees the game is really exciting.”
Raymond Mafeni, Charlie Hammick, Archie Ball and Seth Roberts also crossed the line.
Both teams are back in action this Saturday in the rearranged fixtures against their Sale Sharks counterparts at Heywood Road.
Saints (vs Newcastle): 15 Pater, 14 Jackson, 13 Lumley, 12 Innes, 11 MacFarlane, 10 Shields, 9 Evans; 1 Browne, 2 Garrett, 3 Reid, 4 Hull, 5 Lawrence, 6 Appleby (c), 7 Lewis, 8 Walta.
Replacements: 16 Line, 17 Veevers, 18 Fergus Cherrington, 19 Harry Price, 20 Billy Ray, 21 Ben Currie, 22 Lockie Lee, 23 Charlie Tamani.
