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Kyran Bracken's 3 sons are all following in the No9 footsteps of their ex-England scrum-half father

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

England World Cup winner Kyran Bracken is doing his best to bolster his country’s scrum-half options as his three sons have all followed their father into the No9 position that brought him 51 caps in a ten-year Test career. Bracken is watching his sons set off on their own rugby adventures, admitting that it could create an interesting rivalry in the future with all three opting for the scrum-half role. 

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A member of the 2003 World Cup-winning England squad, Bracken has used his experience and skills over the years as a No9 expert to help the careers of Leicester’s Ben Youngs and Danny Care at Harlequins, but his latest coaching assignment is light years away from the Gallagher Premiership.

Bracken has agreed to become backs coach at Wanstead, who play in London 2 North-East, alongside Kiwi head coach Jeremy Walmsley with both men also coaching the St Albans school first XV. Running in parallel with his coaching work, the 48-year-old is keeping a close eye on the progress of sons Charlie, Jack and Lochlan.

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RugbyPass revisits the epic 1997 first Test between the British and Irish Lions and South Africa in the company of Lawrence Dallaglio

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RugbyPass revisits the epic 1997 first Test between the British and Irish Lions and South Africa in the company of Lawrence Dallaglio

Charlie is already in the Saracens system, the club where his father enjoyed so much success, and Jack is also following the same pathway. ”Charlie is 16, with the Saracens academy and doing well,” said Bracken to RugbyPass.

“My middle son Jack is two years younger and is also on the Saracens course and my youngest son Lochlan, who is 11, is playing a year up and is outstanding. I haven’t really thought this through because I don’t think it is wise to have them all at the same club. I think I will have to farm them out!

“The lads started out at fly-half or a centre and then moved to scrum-half, learning from me passing the ball, and it made sense. Charlie has a better pass than me now off both hands. 

“We have seen a spike of sons coming through following their fathers into the game and it will be interesting to see if any of them make it. If they are lucky enough to make it they will probably have to go elsewhere.”

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Former England No9 Bracken, who showcases his scrum-half skills on the @Ruckit_podcast with former England No8 Nick Easter, acknowledged that the demands on a scrum-half at the highest level have increased, claiming that All Black Aaron Smith is an outstanding example of what is needed to succeed in the modern era. 

“The game has changed for a scrum-half, particularly in terms of fitness because the ball in play longer and you tend to move side to side. The skill level required, having to get a box kick on the money with guys trying to charge you down means it is getting harder and harder. 

“If you look at Antoine Dupont for France and Aaron Smith in New Zealand, they are crucial with everything revolving around them. I just wish other scrum-halves would look at Smith’s game and see how gets the ball away, and the Japanese No9s are a breath of fresh air. 

“I will try and improve the scrum-halves at Wanstead and their skill levels, but coaching is a hobby for me rather than making a career out of it. I did specialist coaching with Saracens. Then Leicester got me up to work with Ben Youngs and at Harlequins with Danny Care over a five- or six-year period.

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“I really enjoy helping at St Albans school where my boys go and I work with Jeremy who asked if I would do sessions at Wanstead. Jeremy wants to play like the Highlanders and I want to be a bit more pragmatic.”

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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