NEWS 'A' League fixtures released

Northampton Wanderers will open up the defence of their Premiership Rugby Shield title away at Leicester Tigers, after the competition’s 2018-19 fixtures were confirmed on Monday.

Taken from t'offy

This year’s competition consists of two conferences of six teams, with Northampton drawn in the North Pool alongside Tigers, Sale Jets, Wasps, Newcastle Falcons, and Worcester Cavaliers.

All sides in the Pool will play each other home and away throughout the season, before the semi-finals and final of the competition are contested in May 2019. Wanderers have won the last two editions of the competition, beating Gloucester United and Exeter Braves in consecutive finals at Franklin’s Gardens in 2017 and 2018.

And academy head coach Mark Hopley is confident Northampton’s strong heritage in the competition can continue this term. “You never know how you will get on until you get playing in the competition,” he said. “But traditionally we have been a strong side at getting players through to the first team off the back of these matches. “This competition gives our younger players the experience to be playing at a high standard in a major championship. We have always taken this competition seriously and we want to win the Shield again. “With a younger side than last year, the Shield is a perfect place for them to come in. They are going to learn from the matches. We hope it will allow us to get them into the first team in the long term.”