Saints announce U18 preseason schedule

Northampton Saints Academy coaches have today announced the Under-18 squad's preseason schedule ahead of the 2017/18 season.

Saints will first host Leinster Schools in a friendly at Franklin's Gardens on Friday, August 11th, before travelling to Wales for a week.

While there, the Saints' youngsters will tackle the challenge of Scarlets and Ospreys on their home soil, on Monday, August 14th and Friday, August 18th, before returning to Northampton to continue their training.

The final preseason match before the beginning of the season sees Saints' U18s head to Allianz Park on Wednesday, August 23rd, to face fellow Premiership Rugby rivals Saracens.

Academy Coach Simon Sinclair is hopeful that demanding schedule will push the young players to achieve their potential this season while also providing them with good opportunities for team building.

"We've got four tough tests coming up over the next month," Sinclair commented.

"But the games will prove a good opportunity for player development. It will also give myself and Head Coach Paul Diggin an opportunity to see the new Under-17s integrating with our Under-18s.

"We've just been on a training camp to RAF Honington and we're stopping in Wales for good period too which will both prove good team building exercises for the lads.

"While we made good progress last season, this schedule will hopefully push us on and get us ready to go to the next level this year."

U18 ACADEMY PRESEASON SCHEDULE