Having gone through the pool stages unbeaten, Gloucester Rugby Under-18s will take on Leicester Tigers Under-18s at Allianz Park on Sunday in the final of the Premiership Rugby Under-18s Academy Final.

Gloucester had to prevail in some hard-fought games, notably against Saracens, London Irish and Harlequins, but topped the Southern Conference table with six wins from their six matches.

Leicester Tigers topped the Northern Conference with five wins from their six matches and boast by far the best defensive record in the tournament.

So, a tough game lies ahead for Richard Whiffin’s side, who will be looking to go one better than two years ago when they also made the final only to lose to London Irish.

Head of Academy Whiffin said that it’s been a good season so far, but that the most significant step is yet to come.

“It’s been a really good campaign so far, massively proud of the boys’ efforts to go six from six in the league format which is a tough format,” he said.

“We’ve come through some tough patches, we’ve been down in a few games and won some close ones, the boys have found a way to win. We’re massively excited, we’ve had a couple of weeks prep and the boys are ready to rip into it.

“We’re lucky with the region we’ve got, we’ve got a massively talented group of youngsters, both at U17 and U18 level. The nature of the competition is giving some of those younger guys an opportunity and they’ll be around again next year.

“We’re proud to get to the final, we just want to go one better than Gloucester did a couple of years ago and try and take the trophy. We’re delighted with the crop of boys we’ve got, and how they’ve performed. We just hope they can turn up on Sunday and put a performance together.”

Gloucester Rugby Under-18s: 15. Reece Dunn, 14. Tom Stanton (capt), 13. Jack Reeves, 12. Isaac Marsh, 11, Jacob Morris, 10. George Barton, 9 Steve Varney, 1. Olly Adkins, 2. Bertie Stretch, 3. Jack Bartlett, 4. Archie Tarbuck, 5. Joe Howard, 6 JJ Tonks, 7. Dec Fissenden, 8. Jack Clement. Replacements: 16. Morgan Nelson. 17 Shay O’Malley. 18 Alex Hunt. 19. Jonny Holiday. 20 Josh Gray. 21 Jack Curtis, 22. Tommy Mathews, 23. Louis Rees-Zammit