Northampton Saints Under-18s travel to Kingston Park this weekend to face Newcastle Falcons in their second clash of the season on Saturday 18 January (kick-off: 1pm).
Saints sit second in the Northern Conference after last weekend’s 53-26 nine-try romping at Yorkshire Academy, with a game in hand on top-of-the-table Leicester Tigers following the postponement of Northampton’s opening match in the competition.
Head coach Charlie Reed make five changes to the side that faced Yorkshire, with a fresh-look centre partnership of Max Innes and Henry Lumley starting alongside incoming winger Preston MacFarlane, and forward pair Matt Browne at loosehead and Ollie Hull at lock.
Meanwhile four of last weekend’s try-scorers – fullback James Pater, scrum-half Harry Evans, and back rowers Jack Lewis and Siep Walta – stay on to face Newcastle.
Ahead of the clash, Reed said: “We've got a couple of boys who are back from injury. Centre Henry Lumley, for example, is a player that I am personally very excited about. He is a strong replacement for Edoardo [Todaro] who is now heading away with Italy.
“Henry started in the Academy League Final last year and has been out with an ankle injury and comes back into the side. Ollie Hull, who was in the England set-up and camps throughout the course of the last year, was on the bench for us last week but is fully fit and ready to go.
“Newcastle had a narrow loss to Tigers in their last game, and we had a close encounter with them at the Malvern Festival over the summer. They move the ball and play as quick as they can. I think it could be a chaotic game, it will be exciting.”
NEWCASTLE FALCONS U18s vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS U18s
Premiership Rugby U18 League, Round 3
Saturday 11 January, 2025
Kingston Park
Kick-off: 1pm
15 James Pater
14 Ernie Jackson
13 Henry Lumley
12 Max Innes
11 Preston MacFarlane
10 Hugh Shields
9 Harry Evans
1 Matt Browne
2 Zack Garrett
3 Aiden Reid
4 Ollie Hull
5 Jack Lawrence
6 Archie Appleby (c)
7 Jack Lewis
8 Siep Walta
Replacements:
16 Dylan Line
17 Lucas Veevers
18 Fergus Cherrington
19 Harry Price
20 Billy Ray
21 Ben Currie
22 Lockie Lee
23 Charlie Tamani
