Powerful young wing Tamani shining for Saints and England at Under-18 level

The likes of Craig Wright, Archie McParland and Henry Pollock had all previously got close to claiming the silverware but ultimately fell one agonising step short.

This year though, the black, green and gold youngsters got over the line, with so many huge performances propelling them to a 31-14 victory over Bath in the showpiece.

One of the standout players of the campaign was undoubtedly Charlie Tamani, who only turned 17 at the start of this month.

The winger's incredible physicality had been making it onto highlights reels throughout the campaign, and he stepped up again in the final.

Tamani's heroics caught the eye of the England age-group coaches and he has recently been starring for the Red Rose at the 2025 U18 Six Nations Festival.

Saints, as they did with Pollock, appear to have another special player on their hands.

But Tamani is not a young man who seems likely to get carried away, as shown when he spoke to this publication in one of his first interviews from the England camp.

"It's been going good really," Tamani said modestly when asked about his recent rugby journey.

"Being at Saints has changed my perspective because I've gone from centre to winger. They think it's better for me to go on the wing because I can win my one v ones.

"It's changed how I see rugby in all perspectives.

"I've had the conversations with Charlie Reed, my head coach at Saints, and we go through everything.

"It's about being the difference and we do things we've never done before. If you've never done kicking, you can try that in training or in matches.

"Saints has improved me as a player, physically and mentally.

"In terms of making small errors, we can always improve from there and you get told not to doubt yourself and to do what you do best."

Tamani's parents, Isaac and Valerie, moved the family to England from Fiji before Charlie was born, and he has benefitted from the environment he has been given.

"I come from Fiji and it doesn't have the ideal equipment for training so my parents moved us here so we could have a better life, I guess," Tamani said.

"I started playing rugby at the age of about five or six.

"I started playing league first for a few years and then I found out about a school called Finborough in Year 5 and started gradually learning how to play union.

"I lived in Colchester and played for my league team, which was called Eastern Rhinos.

"I played for Bury St Edmunds and Colchester in union and I had my first Saints trials during Covid, which was pretty hard.

"I didn't get in because I couldn't go to all the training but I eventually got into the Under-15s and as I gradually started playing with my team, I started making new friends and it got easier.

"My coaches said sometimes I feel too comfortable so they moved me up to make it harder for me, and I really think that's helped me a lot.

"I did feel a bit too comfortable."

Tamani is certainly making it look easy as he bulldozes his way through life at Under-18s level.

His incredible physicality continues to cause opposition sides real problems.

But he insists he has put in plenty of hard work to get the impressive frame he now has.

"I was doing gym at the age of 13," Tamani explained.

"I was trained by a guy called Matt Stagg for a few years at school. He's now doing HSBC SVNS training and gone around the world.

"I would say physicality has always been a big part of my game.

"My dad played rugby, my mum did a bit of sprinting when they were younger.

"My brother, Matt Tamani, played for Saracens for two years despite playing football his whole life."

Charlie counts brother Matt and father Isaac among his sporting inspirations.

But which current rugby player does he look up to the most?

Tamani cheerily replies: "I look up to my star player who plays for Fiji currently, Josua Tuisova."

Tuisova is a top-class centre and wing who uses his outstanding power to help him turn in huge performances for Fiji and Racing 92.

And though he knows he still has a long way to go to emulate his hero, there is certainly no harm in Tamani setting the bar high, as he does when reflecting on his impressive performances in England colours.

"There have been a few errors I can fix up on, just having depth and width and knowing my role properly as a winger," Tamani said.

"It helps a lot knowing there are other players I know from my club Academy here with England.

"The international rugby is a huge step up because everyone is playing quicker than in the Academy, which is a bit slower, I'd say.

"Overall, my rugby journey so far has been pretty good, especially with us winning the final in the Academy League.

"Saints had been beaten in the final three times so it was good to finally get the win."