Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

View this post on Instagram

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 isOwen 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.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

1 Comment
I
Ian 490 days ago

Charlie and Nye are both superb.

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING 'World-class finisher' offers All Blacks selection solution Mark Tele'a scores a double at Allianz Stadium
Search