Northampton Saints U18s came away with just their third loss of the PREM Next Gen Season in a difficult 68-24 defeat to Harlequins.
Despite tries from Will Hepher, Charlie Tamani, Ted Warner and Elijah Jeyes for Saints, the hosts, who remain unbeaten in 2026, scored ten tries at Gordon’s School in Surrey.
“It was a difficult result, I think it was a team that just went within themselves a bit and probably just went away from our DNA,” said defence coach Reece Marshall.
“We came under a lot of pressure from some very good Quins tries and I guess the challenge is when you lose your stronger voices to injuries as we have, it’s important that people step into that role.
“I think we’re still learning how we do that and that’s made it difficult for us to go out and perform and put what we want on the pitch.”
FIRST HALF
The hosts had three tries on the board before the ten-minute mark, as Saints’ discipline suffered as the hosts landed two tries from rolling mauls and another from a launch set play.
But the young Saints responded quickly, with Hepher making a brilliant break and going under the posts to get themselves on the board.
Saints added their second thanks to a brilliant solo break from England U19 winger Tamani from inside his own half, as he beat his opposite number for a clean run to the try line.
But Quins came back with a stunner themselves; however, this time was much more of a team effort than Tamani’s solo, with their offloading game working nicely, breaking down the Saints defence.
On the stroke of the half, Saints pulled another back after a mistake by Harlequins at the lineout on their own line, which Saints pounced on, and Warner drove over.
SECOND HALF
Harlequins came out of the blocks much the stronger side in the second period, scoring five unanswered tries from multiple cross-field kicks, catching the Saints defence off guard as well as the forward pack going over from the set-piece and close range.
Saints had just the one try in the second half as Quins dropped the ball in midfield and Jeyes picked it up and raced under the posts.
But Quins had one more on the stroke of the full-time whistle as they picked off a dropped ball from Saints on the restart and pounced on it to see the game out.
LINE-UPS:
Harlequins U18s: 1. Josh Andrews, 2. Jakob Thompson, 3. Josh Steel, 4. Ellis Woolrych, 5. Henry Laidlow (c), 6. Jack Kemp, 7. Ben Hislop, 8. Leo Dickinson; 9. Max Rawlinson, 10. Sam Marshall, 11. Louis Elsom, 12. Tom Chapman, 13. Jack Tyler, 14. Luc Springate, 15. Flynn Roberts
Replacements: 16. Toby Brotherstone, 17. Sam Smith
18. Mikey Leybourne, 19. Veer Gill, 20. Max Johnson, 21. Stan Amor, 22. Jaiden King, 23. Will Courtney.
Northampton Saints U18s: 15 Hardy Linnell, 14 Will Howes, 13 Elijah Jeyes, 12 Finlay Shields, 11 Charlie Tamani, 10 Sonny Goode (c), 9 Jack Woods; 1 Lucas Veevers, 2 Ferdi Barnett-Vincent, 3 Aiden Reid, 4 Rafferty Hewitt, 5 George Tonga’uiha, 6 Archie McHarg, 7 Will Hepeher, 8 Charlie Hammick.
Replacements: 16 Kingsley Gallimore, 17 Toby Seaman, 18 Ben Jones, 19 Ted Warner, 20 Callum Tarry, 22 Caelin Chin,23 Finn Westley.
Harlequins U17s 38-26 Northampton Saints U17s
Immediately following the U18s fixture, the Harlequins and Saints U17s sides played a friendly, and despite tries from James Slater, Massimo Rapps, Charlie King and Alfie Tedbury, Harlequins came away with a 38-26 victory.