Promotion realistic for Carnegie next season – Hampson

The Headingley club came closer than many thought possible to ousting firm favourites Newcastle and taking their challenge to the Championship final on Sunday.

Diccon Edwards’s side lost by just four points over 160 minutes of rugby, and conceded one try, against a team that finished 31 points above them and topped the regular season standings at a canter.

But with 90 per cent of this current squad retained for next season, and a replacement already in place for fly-half Joe Ford whose move to Sale Sharks was confirmed yesterday, optimism is high at Leeds.

Gary Hetherington, the chief executive, said in the wake of defeat at Kingston Park that the club would continue to build for the Premiership through their academy and by utilising the vast network of players in their home county.

Hampson, who was born in London but joined the Leeds academy in 2006, believes the club have proven over the last three months that they are equipped to secure a fourth top-flight promotion next season.

“Definitely, there’s no doubt about it,” said the 22-year-old scrum-half.

“We have shown that (next season) we can not only mount a challenge but finish the job and win promotion as well.

“We’re still a young squad, we’ve come together a lot from where we started at the beginning of the year.

“This is the youngest squad in the Championship which came together with not many players knowing each other, and the majority having come through the academy. So from that perspective it’s been quite a journey.

“The good thing is a lot of us will be staying together for next season. Hopefully, we’ve already gelled and we can use this experience of the play-offs and take it into next year and get promoted.”

The bedrock of Leeds’s late season surge has been their defence, with much credit being placed at the door of former prop Tommy McGee, who joined the coaching staff at the start of the year and has helped shore up the Carnegie set-piece.

But Hampson also paid tribute to fellow back Fred Burdon – signed last season from Doncaster – who has been instrumental in instilling a greater resolve in the Leeds defence.

“Our defence has just been fantastic,” said Hampson.

“Fred Burdon has led the defence from No 12, he’s been awesome with his tip sheets and telling us how to go, how to defend etc.

“And it’s really come together, particularly in the play-offs. It’s something to take into next year.”