Northampton Saints have named an unchanged matchday squad for their Premiership Rugby Academy League final this weekend.
Head coach Charlie Reed has tasked the same 23-player group that defeated Leicester Tigers 62-17 last time out with a shot at glory on Sunday at Kingsholm Stadium against Bath Rugby (kick-off: 7.05pm).
The young Saints reached their fourth successive final with a clean sweep of bonus point wins, defeating Newcastle Falcons (12-40), Sale Sharks (26-36), and Yorkshire Academy (53-26) building into the East Midlands Derby victory at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens a fortnight ago.
Second row Jack Lawrence captains the side once more and Jack Lewis packs down at blindside flanker looking to add to his tally of five tries so far. James Pater has scored four tries in as many games from fullback for a side that averaged nearly 48 points per game in their Northern league fixtures.
Outside centre Henry Lumley is the only player in the starting line-up that also ran out for last season’s final against Bath, when Saints were denied victory by a late try. Ollie Hull, who was a replacement 12 months ago, goes from the first whistle this time in the second row.
Reed said: “The boys are very excited. You can tell they’re looking forward to giving themselves another crack in a final. They’ve gelled really well as a group. There’s been a mixture of emotions because we had our last training session in midweek so the next time we’ll see them is on Sunday when we’re ready to go.
“Normally it can be quite tricky to read the emotions of teenagers, but this week and last week it’s been pretty straightforward. You can tell there’s a lot of excitement in the environment.”
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS U18s vs BATH U18s
Premiership Rugby U18 League, Final
Sunday 16 February, 2025
Kick-off: 7.05pm
15 James Pater
14 Ernie Jackson
13 Henry Lumley
12 Freddie St John
11 Charlie Tamani
10 Hugh Shields
9 Harry Evans
1 Matt Browne
2 Zack Garrett
3 Aiden Reid
4 Ollie Hull
5 Jack Lawrence (c)
6 Jack Lewis
7 Harry Price
8 Siep Walta
Replacements:
16 Ferdi Barnett-Vincent
17 Lucas Veevers
19 Mark Miska-Alvarez
20 James Hudson
21 Lucas Norton
22 Max Innes
23 Sonny Goode
