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Getting to know: England U20s scrum-half Charlie Bracken
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Latest Comments
Sophie De Goede is one of the best players we’ve ever produced. Kicked all the points, 2 try assists, line out takes, carries, tackles, charge downs… what a player
Go to commentsThe guy had just beasted himself in a scrum and the blood hadn't yet returned to his head when he was pushed into a team mate. He took his weight off his left foot precisely at the moment he was shoved and dropped to the floor when seemingly trying to avoid stepping on Hyron Andrews’ foot. I don't think he was trying to milk a penalty, I think he was knackered but still switched on enough to avoid planting 120kgs on the dorsum of his second row’s foot. To effectively “police” such incidents with a (noble) view to eradicating play acting in rugby, yet more video would need to be reviewed in real time, which is not in the interest of the game as a sporting spectacle. I would far rather see Farrell penalised for interfering with the refereeing of the game. Perhaps he was right to be frustrated, he was much closer to the action than the only camera angle I've seen, however his vocal objection to Rodd’s falling over doesn't legitimately fall into the captain's role as the mouthpiece of his team - he should have kept his frustration to himself, that's one of the pillars of rugby union. I appreciate that he was within his rights to communicate with the referee as captain but he didn't do this, he moaned and attempted to sway the decision by directing his complaint to the player rather than the ref. Rugby needs to look closely at the message it wants to send to young players and amateur grassroots rugby. The best way to do this would be to apply the laws as they are written and edit them where the written laws no longer apply. If this means deleting laws such as ‘the put in to the scrum must be straight”, so be it. Likewise, if it is no longer necessary to respect the referee’s decision without questioning it or pre-emptively attempting to sway it (including by diving or by shouting and gesticulating) then this behaviour should be embraced (and commercialised). Otherwise any reference to respecting the referee should be deleted from the laws. You have to start somewhere to maintain the values of rugby and the best place to start would be giving a penalty and a warning against the offending player, followed by a yellow card the next time. People like Farrell would rapidly learn to keep quiet and let their skills do the talking.
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