Northampton Saints Under-18s Head Coach Charlie Reed has made three changes to his starting XV from last weekend’s derby-winning side as they take on Newcastle Red Bulls on Saturday (10 January, kick-off: 4:30pm) before the Under-17s side play the same opponents in a friendly match (kick-off: 6:30pm).
The young Saints started the new year with a commanding 33-0 victory over East Midlands rivals Leicester Tigers last Saturday, taking them to second place in the PREM Next Gen Academy League competition.
There are two changes in the backline as Elijah Jeyes comes onto the wing and Caelin Chin starts at scrum-half.
In the pack, Will Hepher moves to openside following his hat-trick performance from last week, and Charlie Hammick comes in at No.8 following an injury to Jack Lewis.
On the bench, Charlie Utting gets the nod at replacement hooker following his try-scoring performance for the U17s last week. Ted Warner, Reuben Williams, and Harry Sturla are also included as replacements.
Ahead of the match, defence coach Reece Marshall said. “The boys were well at it in defence last weekend against the Tigers, and we know we need to do that again on Saturday.
“I still don’t think that was our best performance against Leicester, and hopefully the boys will come out firing at Newcastle.”
Newcastle Red Bulls U18s vs Northampton Saints U18s
PREM Next Gen Academy League, Round 5
Saturday 10 January, 2026
Kick-off: 4:30pm
15 Hardy Linnell
14 Elijah Jeyes
13 Will Catley
12 Ashton Cox
11 Charlie Tamani
10 Sonny Goode (c)
9 Caelin Chin
1 Aiden Reid
2 Ferdi Barnett-Vincent
3 Noah Buxton
4 Rafferty Hewitt
5 George Tonga’uiha
6 Ronan Perkins
7 Will Hepeher
8 Charlie Hammick
Replacements:
16 Charlie Utting
17 Lucas Veevers
19 Ted Warner
20 Reuben Williams
21 Harry Sturla
22 Fin Shields
23 Will Howes
Immediately following the U18s fixture, the U17s will play in a friendly against Newcastle with a 6:30pm kick-off.
Newcastle Red Bulls U17s vs Northampton Saints U17s
Friendly
Saturday 10 January, 2026
Kick-off: 6:30pm
Saints U17s: 15 Kai Manson, 14 Finn Westley, 13 Joshua Miller, 12 Fin Shields, 11Tommy Karpanos, 10 Giovanni Panariello, 9 Neal Tuladhar; 1 Toby Seaman, 2 James Slater, 3 Ben Jones ©, 4 William Higgins, 5 Archie McHarg, 6 Will Hart, 7 Jordan Johnson, 8 Oscar Wells.
Replacements: 16 Alfie Mutuma, 17 Oliver Surley, 19 Oliver Bloomfield, 20 James Egan, 21Massimo Rapps, 22 William Watkins, 23 Benjamin Patterson