Good win for Academy v Quins today!

[Tigerbeat]

Harlequins 7 Leicester Tigers 27

A dominant Leicester Academy outfit were made to be patient by their Harlequins counterparts, before eventually easing to victory on Monday.

It was Harlequins who took the lead when the two sides met in the inaugural Premiership Rugby U-18 Academy Finals at Allianz Park, through George Jackson before the Tigers came back into the match.

But Owen Hills dotted down for Leicester just before the break and they eased clear in the second half, through Will Owen, Rhys Williams, George Prince and Paolo Odogwu, to win 27-7.

A cagey opening ended with Quins centre Joe Marchant sending a penalty wide of the left upright from just inside the ten-metre line, before their opponents began to get the upper hand.

The Quins defence held firm inside its own 22 and when Leicester thought they had broken the deadlock the referee signalled for a knock-on over the line.

After a vital intervention prevented Harlequins from opening the scoring, Leicester were back on top but a lack of cutting edge repeatedly ensuring they didn't cross over.

Quins would finally break the stalemate shortly before half time, as scrum-half Jackson bundled over and George Jones added the extras.

Leicester resumed normal business soon after and their powerful pack soon produced an overdue try for prop Hills - but John Hargreaves hooked the conversion wide.

The start of the second half was a similar story for Leicester but this pressure bore instant fruit, with Owen forcing his way over the try line and George Worth converting.

Leicester had found their rhythm and now it was the backs' turn to contribute, as wing Williams finished a neat move, but Worth couldn't slot two conversions in as many minutes.

Quins began to apply some pressure but the leaders were always looking to extend the frail ten-point lead, with only a forward pass preventing a dangerous break from the halfway line.

But Leicester scrum-half Prince showed quick wits and feet to nip across the whitewash and ensure they were not left to regret it for too long - but Worth couldn't add the extras.

After capitalising on a spill inside the Leicester half Odogwu streamed clear, running 80 metres to complete the scoring late on - though Worth's conversion was wide once again.

Harlequins: Aspland-Robinson, Simmons, Marchant, Taylor (Wood 57), Bellamin, Jones (Saunders 53), Jackson (Hogg 53), Wilkey (Gasson 64), Adeniran-Olule, Ibuanokpe (Lasis 40), South (Novell 64), Treadwell, White (Heidrich 64), Forshaw (Mount 56), Cheeseman

Leicester: Williams D, Odogwu, Worth, Thacker, Williams R, Hargreaves (Fossey 63), Prince, Hills, Nairn, Hogan (Farthing 58), Jones, Maksymiw, Rix (Bevan-Brown 67), Owen (Evans 47), Beckett
Replacements: Tuilagi, Grimes, Galletly, Atwal

Scorers
Harlequins:
Tries: Jackson
Conversions: Jones
Leicester:
Tries: Hills, Owen, Williams, Prince, Odogwu
Conversions: Worth

[LE18]

Any of these players look like stepping up to first team?

If so, please can they do so in our next match?

Well done fellas!

[bc]

Great win. Clearly coached better than the seniors, I suggest that we move the coaches up now that the U-18 have won the silverware!

[cidermark]

Great win. Clearly coached better than the seniors, I suggest that we move the coaches up now that the U-18 have won the silverware!

Without looking - who is the coach?

[drc_007]

Best news I've heard for a few weeks.

[The Boy Dave]

I thought it was an under 18 league, isn't Will Owen England under 20?

[BJ.]

Without looking - who is the coach?

I give in. Who is the coach?

[AmericanTiger]

It looks like the Academy manager is Neil McCarthy. Brett Deacon also joined up when he retired.

http://www.inattheside.com/brett-deacon ... ing-staff/

[MurphysLaw]

Great win for the lads - well done!

[cidermark]

Without looking - who is the coach?

I give in. Who is the coach?

I know that AmericanTiger has since answered this (thank you), but, BJ, I didn't want you to think that I was ignoring you.

When I first posted the question it was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek however when I did sneak a look - I couldn't find anything on the Tigers website

Surely our youngsters and all the staff involved in their development deserve a little more 'airtime' on the official LT site!

[BJ.]

Without looking - who is the coach?

I give in. Who is the coach?

I know that AmericanTiger has since answered this (thank you), but, BJ, I didn't want you to think that I was ignoring you.

That's OK, I thought it was a quiz and we weren't allowed to look up the answer.

[sam16111986]

LE18, Williams and Owen have already featured in the LV Cup for the Tigers. Well I think Owen got off the bench, not sure. Williams definitely came off the bench vs Bath and had a busy five minutes first stripping Fearns of the ball and then making a half break around the edge of a ruck. Someone told me a couple of years ago he had the kind of footwork that made Shane Williams a great, hoping to see him play a little more over the next year or two.

The Boy Dave, I believe the criteria for the under 18s league states that any player who is 18 or under at the start of the season is eligible for the entire compeition. I think Will Owen is a younger member of the England under 20s.

[The Boy Dave]

sam16111986
The Boy Dave, I believe the criteria for the under 18s league states that any player who is 18 or under at the start of the season is eligible for the entire compeition. I think Will Owen is a younger member of the England under 20s

Just had a look and it states March 1995 so must be 18 (19 in March 2014) and he can't be an under 18 player this season on that basis, don't see the point in it in that case.
Not much difference I suppose unless he came up against some less experienced players in which case the result is not as good as it looks IMO.
I would not pit an U20 international against possible 16/17 year olds.
Done just for the gloss IMO and a little similar to the big versus little kid debate recently, the big kid wins in the short term but longer term does he develop what he needs to compete and excel amongst the men.
This might be why so few are able to make the step up, a classic case of the fighter being matched with lesser opponents to raise the profile whilst protecting him, until he eventually meets his match!

I would add that this confuses me more than a little. Cockers is getting stick for poor performance whilst still winning in the Premiership and needing to try and develop his own players at the same time whilst the academy get applauded for results on what appears an uneven playing field whilst not producing many players who are developed to step up. Seems to be some politics going on here and covering your own back!

[Isambard]

Pleased to see such a good result and hope some of these guys progress to the 1st XV next season.

[h's dad]

sam16111986
The Boy Dave, I believe the criteria for the under 18s league states that any player who is 18 or under at the start of the season is eligible for the entire compeition. I think Will Owen is a younger member of the England under 20s

Just had a look and it states March 1995 so must be 18 (19 in March 2014) and he can't be an under 18 player this season on that basis, don't see the point in it in that case.
Not much difference I suppose unless he came up against some less experienced players in which case the result is not as good as it looks IMO.
I would not pit an U20 international against possible 16/17 year olds.
Done just for the gloss IMO and a little similar to the big versus little kid debate recently, the big kid wins in the short term but longer term does he develop what he needs to compete and excel amongst the men.
This might be why so few are able to make the step up, a classic case of the fighter being matched with lesser opponents to raise the profile whilst protecting him, until he eventually meets his match!

I would add that this confuses me more than a little. Cockers is getting stick for poor performance whilst still winning in the Premiership and needing to try and develop his own players at the same time whilst the academy get applauded for results on what appears an uneven playing field whilst not producing many players who are developed to step up. Seems to be some politics going on here and covering your own back!

In what way was it an uneven playing field – please enlighten me if the teams were not playing to the same set of rules and laws. You seem to really resent Will and the rest of the team their win. I’m sure that all the teams involved have players spread across the eligible age range with a preponderance towards the upper level for the reasons you specify. Any 16 year olds involved will not have turned up on spec the way they might for a local junior section but will have been carefully selected and trained before being given game time.