Northampton Saints U18s Head Coach Charlie Reed is looking forward to another good training week with his squad ahead of their clash with last year’s Defender Next Gen Academy league finalists, Bath.
Saints travel to Chippenham Rugby Club this Saturday (22 August, kick-off: 1pm) to take on Bath off the back of a positive opening fixture after beating Gloucester 50-39 last Friday.
“It’s a really tight group we have this year, and they are showing consistently that they are resilient. I thought the boys worked tremendously hard in really tough conditions against Gloucester.
“It took a really strong mindset from the boys to keep going, they wanted to play how we train week in week out, and I was really pleased.
“What’s interesting is that we knew we had good control over the game despite going two tries down. We knew we were doing the right things, but we just let a couple of bits slip during the transition.
“Fin Shields was exceptional. He played the first half at 12, then moved to fullback. I thought he had some really good involvement in the game and was certainly a standout.”
Last Friday’s matchday squad against Gloucester featured several players, like Shields, who had previously featured in the Next Gen league, but it was also an opportunity to hand out several league debuts.
“It’s always great to give someone their Academy League debut,” he continued. “Against Gloucester, we got to do that for a good group of them.
“We always push young players with potential, you always wonder if it’s the appropriate time, but I think they rose to the occasion.”
Saturday’s opponents, who were edged in a 12-try thriller against Bristol Bears in last year’s Next Gen Academy League final, have started this year with two wins in the opening rounds of the league, presenting Reed’s side with a strong test on Saturday.
He added: “Bath this Saturday is never an easy away trip, it’s a good chance to have a good final training week together before we break for the summer.
“The main thing I want to see from the boys is them working hard and replicating what we do on the training pitch. Nothing will change; it will just be a week focused on us, how we can improve, and what comes of that.”