Northampton Saints’ Under-18s return to action this Saturday (3 January, kick-off: 1pm) for the first time in 2026, as they begin their next block of PREM Next Gen Academy League fixtures with an away trip to Leicester Tigers at Beaumont Park – with the Under-17s playing a friendly immediately after (kick-off: 3pm).
The young Saints open their new year account with a mouthwatering East Midlands derby trip to rivals Leicester Tigers, as the Next Gen league begins the run-in towards the finals in February.
Saints and Tigers both enter the new year with two wins out of a possible three in the Next Gen league, but for U18s Head Coach Charlie Reed, there is more that he wants to target besides the final result.
“We’ve been going after a load of different things in training, looking at what is the best space we can go and attack into,” Reed explained.
“Of course, one thing we have targeted as always, due to the limited amount of training time we have with the players, is our set-piece as well.
“We’ve had a good couple of training days. The school season fixtures schedule is pretty full, so getting training numbers can be difficult throughout the year.
“But now this side of Christmas, it’s a good chance to install some good things into this next block of fixtures.”
In the build-up to the fixture, Saints’ Academy starlets have made the most of using the facilities at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens to best prepare themselves for the challenge.
“The boys love coming and training here,” Reed continued.
“Our normal training base at Oundle School has got brilliant facilities for us, but for the players to come here and see where the seniors train, what they get up to, and have that experience to train on the same pitch that they do is what makes this Club great.”