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World Rugby U20 Championship

Getting to know: England U20s scrum-half Charlie Bracken

(Photo by Liam Heagney)

There are numerous players at the Junior World Championship who hail from families with serious reputations at the top end of rugby. For instance, France have Posolo Tuilagi, who is the son of ex-Samoan international Henry, Australia have Teddy Wilson, the son of 1999 Rugby World Cup winner David, South Africa’s Jean Smith is the son of current Glasgow coach Franco, while England skipper Lewis Chessum is the younger brother of England Test forward Ollie.

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Another eye-catching family name within the England ranks is Bracken. It was 2003 when scrum-half Kyran was part of the Clive Woodwood squad that won the Rugby World Cup in Australia. Now, 20 years later in South Africa, his eldest son Charlie is striving for age-grade glory with their country’s U20s.

Their campaign has enjoyed a very promising start, the opening-round draw versus Ireland in Paarl getting followed by a convincing victory over Fiji in Stellenbosch that has left them firmly in the hunt for semi-final qualification when they take on the Junior Wallabies in their final pool match on Tuesday in Athlone.

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Bracken was the No9 starter against the Irish before coming off the bench versus the Fijians. RugbyPass met him at the England team hotel in downtown Cape Town for a series of quickfire questions where his answers referenced Owen Farrell, Drake and King Charles III:

THE BASICS
Born: December 9, 2003;
Joined England age-grade: U18s against Wales in Taunton;
Club: Saracens (senior academy contract);
Position: Scrum-half;
Boots: Any Nike boots;
Gumshield: Opro. England made it for us. Traditional.
Headgear: No;
School: St Albans School.

RATE YOURSELF (out of 100)
Pace: I’m not that quick, probably 70 I reckon;
Passing: Probably 80;
Tackling: I’ll go 75.

THE PAST
My favourite England player of all time is… I reckon Ben Youngs is quite a big one considering how he has done in his career and the number of caps he has got.

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Favourite try I have ever scored is… I scored one on my debut in the U18s game against Wales, so that was a good one. I ran a cheat line, got the ball on the inside and ran about 20 metres to score. It wasn’t fantastic but it felt amazing scoring.

A rugby memory that makes me smile is… Probably at school where we beat our rivals when we were the big underdogs. We were playing Haileybury and we came back against them and beat them which we don’t usually do, which was good.

The moment I realised I could make it is… My Prem Cup debut (versus Wasps in March 2022). I was still at school then. I was 18. That was a surreal experience. Having that taste of first-team rugby was great and that was when I realised.

One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is… Believe in yourself, be confident and believe in your ability.

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My best subject in school was… Geography. I am studying geography at uni now.

The first player who made me fall in love with rugby is… I’d give that one to my dad. Watching him over the years has probably inspired me the most.

Growing up, my position was… Scrum-half. Always been a scrum-half. Was always quite small as a child so scrum-half suited me. I have got two younger brothers who started off at scrum-half as well but my middle brother is now a full-back and the youngest is still a scrum-half.

The coach who has most impacted my game is… Jeremy Walmsley, my schools coach. He helped me a lot. Because I was captain of my school, he mentored me a lot.

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A post shared by Charlie Bracken (@charliebracken9)

THE PRESENT
My favourite rising rugby player is… There are so many. I think Jack van Poortvliet is doing really well, and he looks like a great prospect.

My best attributes on the field are… Passing, speed of ball.

One thing I’m doing to improve my education is… I’m at Loughborough Uni, studying geography. That has been great, so I am kind of part-time rugby, part-time uni which has meant that I can keep up my education whilst in the sport I love.

My favourite current England player is… Owen Farrell because he is at Saracens. He is a great bloke and an amazing rugby player.

My favourite YouTuber is… I don’t really follow much but I’ll say KSI.

My hardest working teammate is… There are so many. I’d say Nathan Michelow from Saracens. I played with him a lot and he is really hard working and has worked really hard to get into the side.

My most skilful teammate is… I reckon Sam Harris. He is pretty skilful. Can kick off both feet, has a good pass.

My favourite training drill is… I like a good old 15 on 15, just a match-based scenario. Stuff like that.

My favourite music artist is… Drake.

THE FUTURE
A player who could go all the way is… Joseph Woodward.

If I could play with anyone, I would like to play with… Manu Tuilagi. He would be good for front-foot ball.

I will be happy with my career if I… Have a successful career at Saracens, play for a long time there and hopefully play for England one day.

I want to make a difference by… Not sure. Just being a really skilful scrum-half and using that aspect of my game to get as far as I can.

If I could get a degree in anything I would choose… I have got the geography so far so I’ll probably stick with that, but if I were to do another one I reckon law.

I would be a better player if I… Was a bit bigger, a bit stronger. That would help out a bit.

If I could play in any other country, I would play in… Australia.

One person I want to meet is… The King.

One trophy I would love to win is… The Premiership and I’d also love to win the U20s World Cup.

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Comments

1 Comment
I
Ian 537 days ago

Charlie and Nye are both superb.

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Comments on RugbyPass

G
GP 31 minutes ago
The top 50 prospects under 23 in New Zealand rugby

Really interesting article.Canterbury and Crusaders lock Jamie Hannah, who debuted for the Crusaders before Canterbury , he is going places. Fellow Canterbury lock, who has debuted for the Crusaders in Europe, is big and athletic. His father Graham played in the NPC winning Canterbury side of 1997. His Uncle is former AB Chris Jack. Makos and Crusader no 8 Fletcher Anderson is developing fast with more experience. First-five James White did play well for Canterbury in the loss to Wellington. No harm in first-fives who can play fullback.

36 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Yep NZ national u85 team is touring there atm I think (or just has).

144 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
Warren Gatland finds out his fate as Wales undergo huge changes

What are they gonna do with the 500k and what does that achieve? They could dump the whole side and pick amateurs and save 10million, but what is that going to achieve?


The problem it feels like to me is I didn't hear what Gatland is going to do in order to win the 6N next year. How is he helping the problem. It just sounds like they're expecting miracles and for Gatland to turn around the national teams results, but what good is that when you're not fixing any of the problems and you'll just be back where you were when Gatland and the old players leave?


I think you are totally wrong in your stance. Wales abosolutely need to spend that 500k by investing in their future, it just doesn't sound like theyre giving Gatland any more resources to do it with. They're not using that 500k very well.

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J
JW 1 hour ago
James O'Connor on Crusaders preseason: 'I haven't experienced anything like it'

They would improve a lot of such a scheme were allowed though JD, win win :p

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J
JW 1 hour ago
James O'Connor on Crusaders preseason: 'I haven't experienced anything like it'

Yeah I actually think it was Havili that took it off him. Not bad himself, but on the advice of Razor, who didn't even pursue it and use Havili on a split bench as 10 cover?


One huge cluster#$@% but I think you could be right, I liked O'Connor when he won at the Reds and I've just got a funny feeling he's going to dominate Super Rugby, kinda like how Cooper came back to the Wallabies as an experienced head and spat out South Africa. I think James could do the same with the Blues and other Aus sides. I'd really love Rivez to get a lot of minutes though.

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JW 1 hour ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

I rated Lowe well enough to be an AB. Remember we were picking the likes of George Bridge above such players so theres no disputing a lot of bad decisions have been made by those last two coaches. Does a team like the ABs need a finicky winger who you have to adapt and change a lot of your style with to get benefit from? No, not really. But he still would have been a basic improvement on players like even Savea at the tail of his career, Bridge, and could even have converted into the answer of replacing Beauden at the back. Instead we persisted with NMS, Naholo, Havili, Reece, all players we would have cared even less about losing and all because Rieko had Lowe's number 11 jersey nailed down.


He was of course only 23 when he decided to leave, it was back in the beggining of the period they had started retaining players (from 2018 onwards I think, they came out saying theyre going to be more aggressive at some point). So he might, all of them, only just missed out.


The main point that Ed made is that situations like Lowe's, Aki's, JGP's, aren't going to happen in future. That's a bit of a "NZ" only problem, because those players need to reach such a high standard to be chosen by the All Blacks, were as a country like Ireland wants them a lot earlier like that. This is basically the 'ready in 3 years' concept Ireland relied on, versus the '5 years and they've left' concept' were that player is now ready to be chosen by the All Blacks (given a contract to play Super, ala SBW, and hopefully Manu).


The 'mercenary' thing that will take longer to expire, and which I was referring to, is the grandparents rule. The new kids coming through now aren't going to have as many gp born overseas, so the amount of players that can leave with a prospect of International rugby offer are going to drop dramatically at some point. All these kiwi fellas playing for a PI, is going to stop sadly.


The new era problem that will replace those old concerns is now French and Japanese clubs (doing the same as NRL teams have done for decades by) picking kids out of school. The problem here is not so much a national identity one, than it is a farm system where 9 in 10 players are left with nothing. A stunted education and no support in a foreign country (well they'll get kicked out of those countries were they don't in Australia).


It's the same sort of situation were NZ would be the big guy, but there weren't many downsides with it. The only one I can think was brought up but a poster on this site, I can't recall who it was, but he seemed to know a lot of kids coming from the Islands weren't really given the capability to fly back home during school xms holidays etc. That is probably something that should be fixed by the union. Otherwise getting someone like Fakatava over here for his last year of school definitely results in NZ being able to pick the cherries off the top but it also allows that player to develop and be able to represent Tonga and under age and possibly even later in his career. Where as a kid being taken from NZ is arguably going to be worse off in every respect other than perhaps money. Not going to develop as a person, not going to develop as a player as much, so I have a lotof sympathy for NZs case that I don't include them in that group but I certainly see where you're coming from and it encourages other countries to think they can do the same while not realising they're making a much worse experience/situation.

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B
Barry 1 hour ago
Loose Leinster scrape by Connacht to extend winning run

Could well be their year. Still winning games while playing utterly puke rugby.

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J
JWH 3 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

NZ regularly plays games against Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa, and almost all of the players who play for NZ are born here. Its a bit like an English born Scot, or an Italian born Frenchman.


WR does NOT schedule matches for the big unions. It is a big union problem, not a problem for WR to fix for once.

144 Go to comments
J
JWH 3 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Yes, I don't really rate Lowe and don't see him as a big loss. But PI players are more often leaving their home nation to play for a richer union like France or England or NZ, which is frankly just wrong.

144 Go to comments
J
JWH 3 hours ago
'Springbok Galacticos can't go it alone for trophy-hunting Sharks'

Why don't you tell me?


NZ regularly plays games against PI nations, Japan, and USA, expanding their unions and markets. What has SA done for the game, aside from winning RWCs and playing some really good rugby?


Nothing.

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J
JW 3 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Theyre just reference links to were they got the numbers from. Just couldn't be arsed removing them, theyre irrelevant.


Remember they'll be for all forms of rugby, and 'competition's as well as proper club leagues, for some of the more unique countries in the list. But yes, its fairly interesting what countries are getting upto with the game, Sri Lanka are just off that list. Have you watched Rugged Rugby on Netflix?


I really should check those references on Wales numbers. I had heard it was super popular down through the community, a bit like France in the south, but I'm still surprised by them. NZs mens numbers rose by 5% this year. Google list of rugby union playing countries.

144 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

That 500 number is abroad. These idea's would be far more interesting imo.

144 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Fully agree. I'm happy to boost rugby's popularity in these countries for the mean time though. Well I'm happy for it to go on until it naturally stops tbh.


But yes, you wouldn't want it to come to the detriment of other countries, thankfully that's not happening imo.

144 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Why wouldn't they? Just throw the towel in?


They certainly aren't going to go to Scotland if theres no jobs.

144 Go to comments
J
JW 3 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Bit of a rosy outlook that. Lets hope so at least!

144 Go to comments
J
JW 4 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

Still not as much as someone like Mitchell, so there's certainly room for more. But credit to him for his desire, he'd not played in consecutive CCs for the most part, but it doesn't look like he'd willingly missed a league game. What you appear to be giving credit to Toulouse for, as actually Lucu's willingness to play the full 80 mins in a third of his games. That's just very different of UBB, not Toulouse, surely?


They other thing I noted is that he appeared to have a bench backup on those equations. UBB never tried to create a player who can act as his cover and go with a bigger forward split on the bench? Would seem like the perfect opportunity.

144 Go to comments
G
GP 4 hours ago
Ex-Wallaby explains why All Blacks aren’t at ‘panic stations’ under Razor

I am looking forward to next year with some of the dead wood gone. Will Jordan getting a full season at fullback will help. From a Crusaders perspective his return and that of Braydon Ennor is going to be huge. They are class acts. A lot of people are going to be eating there words re the Crusaders are going to bounce back.

1 Go to comments
J
Jmann 4 hours ago
How the Black Ferns Sevens reacted to Michaela Blyde's code switch

Make some money, improve defence, play a massively less-complicated game for a year. Win yet another world cup... come back and dominate 7s for a few a season and maybe jump into the women's XVs and win back-to-back world cups in code. Go girl!

3 Go to comments
J
JW 4 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

The ones he listed or the African ones? I think problem for people like yourself is you just don't hear about all that is done, and I'd say it's much the same with us here not hearing anything about what SA is doing for Africa.


There's definitely a case for countries to get together for their own benefit as it's such a young sport everything is evolving and theres plenty of knowledge out their (from sports like football) to help that along. SANZAAR is the perfect example.

144 Go to comments
G
GP 4 hours ago
James O'Connor on Crusaders preseason: 'I haven't experienced anything like it'

You are right about Rivez Reihana, he had a long spell when he was out injured. When he came back, in the win over the Rebels and other games and played well. I rate him and glad he is back with the Crusaders. Taha Kemara I think will really step up, in fact he did not play much last year. Hohepa was the one who played. That was due to people's memories are selective or not that good.James O'Connor is out to prove a point and is focused. The injury situation last year was horrendous. I think the Crusaders will bounce back with a vengeance in 2025. Remember 2001 what happened , 2002 was a different story.

18 Go to comments
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