This weekend sees Newcastle Falcons youngsters in action as part of two RFU Academy festivals held at Leicester Grammar School. On Friday the Falcons Under 16s will play against Worcester Warriors, Sale Sharks and Leeds Carnegie, whilst on Saturday the Under 18s will play against Leeds Carnegie, Sale Sharks and Northampton Saints.

These pre-season festivals provide an opportunity for the next generation of local talent to showcase their ability to Falcons coaches.

As the Falcons Academy production line kicks into gear for another season, three Junior Academy players have already worn the coveted Falcons jersey this summer; 17 year olds Adam Redman (Durham School, Durham), Dan Marshall (Gosforth Academy, Ponteland RFC, Northumberland) and Callum Burn (Kirkley Hall College, Alnwick RFC, Northumberland) all represented the club’s senior squad in the game against Doncaster Knights last Saturday, with Dan Marshall also representing the Falcons at the Premiership Rugby 7s Finals in London earlier this month.

Academy Manager Mark Laycock outlined the purpose of the RFU festivals: "These players have been training with us since the start of July on their fitness, game understanding and skills so this is a great chance for them to put into practice what they have learned and for us to see how much they have improved since the end of last season.

“The Under 16s are all currently building towards their county programme where they could progress to the North of England squad. Our Under 18 League campaign does not start until December so after the festival the players will all be representing their clubs, schools and for some of them their county sides too."

Falcons U16 Squad Michael Newstead (Cumbria), Adam Howe (Cumbria), Ryan Allen (Durham), David Whittle (Cumbria), Tom Tully (Northumberland), Elliot Moore (Northumberland), Alex Hayton (Northumberland), Ben Walton (Durham), Eric Hill (Cumbria), Josh Gray (Durham), Drew Davidson (Durham), Fraser McNee (Cumbria), Isaac Brace (Durham), Tom Marshall (Northumberland), Alex Pantechis (Cumbria), Jack Sullivan (Cumbria), Jake Rodgers (Northumberland), Joe Pickering (Durham), Jamie Wrigley (Northumberland), Seb Reece (Northumberland), Liam King (Durham), Alex Tait (Northumberland), Ikenna Obonna (Northumberland), Charlie Wilson (Northumberland), Jonny Crichton (Cumbria)

Falcons U18 Squad Angus Fulton (Cumbria), James Elston (Durham), Jack Beckwith (Durham), Ralph Johnstone (Cumbria), Jamie Blamire (Cumbria), Adam Mohammed (Northumberland), Aidan Coulthard (Cumbria), Michael Walton (Durham), Anth Davis (Northumberland), Harry Borthwick (Northumberland), Sam King (Durham), Joe Towers (Cumbria), Joe Craggs (Durham), Lewis Roxby (Durham), Ruaridh Dawson (Northumberland), Ryan Foreman (Durham), Sam Leeming (Durham), Yousef Sahib (Cumbria), Adam Redman (Durham), James Cooney (Durham), Lloyd Purser (Durham), Dan Marshall (Northumberland), Garry Izomor (Durham), Callum Burn (Northumberland), Ben Stevenson (Durham)