Leeds Carnegie coach Mark Luffman happy with prospects

Former hooker Luffman played 133 first XV games for Leeds

Leeds Carnegie's young players have the potential to compete at the highest level, says academy coach Mark Luffman.

A batch of academy products impressed during Friday night's Premiership Sevens competition at Welford Road.

Luffman told BBC Radio Leeds: "This season might be at bit early, but hopefully a few will get their chance in the LV Cup and Europe maybe."

"A few years down the line I can certainly see a lot of these boys involved in the first team squad."

Leeds' young sevens side beat hosts Leicester Tigers, but lost to Sale and an experienced Newcastle outfit as they just missed out on qualifying for August's finals night in the inaugural JP Morgan Asset Management Premiership Sevens Series.

"I was very impressed with the boys and how they learned and improved as the tournament went on. I'm very proud of how they played and they put in a magnificent effort," said Luffman.

"We only had four hours training preparation for this, so for them to play like they did was impressive and showed their character.

"This experience will massively benefit their development and make them more hungry to become a first team player.

"I believe these guys can go all the way and become first team players in the top flight. All the boys have the ability to play at the highest level."

The majority of the Leeds sevens side spent last season on loan at National League One club Otley to gain more first team experience.

Oli Stedman, Richard Beck, James Twomey and Curtis Wilson all played the 15-man game at Cross Green and Luffman said they will look to send academy products out again.

"Last season lads went to Otley, Wharfledale, Harrogate, Rotherham and Doncaster and we found it was a massive benefit for these guys," added Luffman.

"It put them in a challenging atmosphere, playing men's rugby, week in, week out.

"What we need to do is provide these young lads with a challenging game week in, week out, where they can really front up to what they will have to face as a professional.

"If we can provide that for them at an early age then brilliant and that's what we are all about."