Kyran Bracken - My greatest sporting moment
An interview series looking back at favourite memories from sports stars around the world
Earning a cap for your country is one of the most prestigious achievements for any sportsperson, but many have failed to make the step up to the international game and been left with the unenviable label of a one-cap wonder.
While some have unfortunately saved their worst performances for the highest level, others suffered misfortune out of their control with injuries ruining their special day.
England rugby union scrum half Kyran Bracken feared he would be one of the unlucky ones with his first cap over within minutes after a deliberate stamp left him with torn ankle ligaments.
He was in no mood to relinquish his place in the line-up however, and somehow played the entire 80 minutes with heavy strapping as England defeated New Zealand for the first time in a decade.
“I think your first cap is always very memorable,” he explained. “Partly because it’s something you’ve been dreaming about and training for, but to play against the best team in the world made it extra special.
“You’ve seen first caps go horribly wrong and we hadn’t beaten the All Blacks in years and years. I think playing at Twickenham in the autumn internationals, the build-up to the game, getting stamped on in the first minute, it all added to the occasion.”
The man behind the stamp, Jamie Joseph, is now the head coach of the Japanese men’s national team, but Bracken didn’t feel he was targeted more than any other player would be on their international debut.
“It’s a normal course of events when it’s your first cap. You expect a bit of lip and a bit of special treatment. Every time we played a team and they had a debutant you’d target them and make them properly nervous,” he commented.
“They went after me very early on but I didn’t want to come off, partly because Matt Dawson was on the bench and I didn’t want him to get his first cap!
“I kind of limped around the pitch a bit but actually had a really good game, my passing and kicking was good, I made a few tackles, helped drive the team on and was part of an amazing win.”
Were the game to have taken place in the modern day it’s very likely that Bracken’s decision would’ve been made by the medical team, but in the early 1990s substitutes were not made unless a player was very seriously injured and carried off.
“These were still the amateur days where it was all about singing the song and getting pissed in the evening,” recalled Bracken of that famous day in 1993. “So I did something really special at a really special time.”
Bracken was a late addition to the starting line-up for the game after regular scrum half Dewi Morris pulled out with the flu 48 hours prior to kick-off.
All of a sudden, the recently turned 22-year-old was flung in front of the press and faced with the task of stopping a New Zealand side going for a world record of consecutive wins.
“When Dewi pulled out, Geoff Cooke [England’s head coach] phoned me and said ‘great news for you, you’re starting at the weekend. I’ve seen you’ve been playing well for Bristol, just do what you do there and you’ll be fine.’
“All of the senior players that you see on TV, Will Carling, Brian Moore, Jason Leonard etc. they were all very accommodating and supportive, but I don’t know what they felt about having a new scrum half for such a massive Test match. I wonder if they thought that was the nail in the coffin for us.
“But rugby and sport in general is amazing like that when you read the papers and see that we have absolutely no chance of winning that game according to the press and the bookies.”
Having put 51 points past Scotland the week before, the All Blacks were a staggering 7-1 on to win and had lost on just one of their last eight visits to Twickenham.
“Because it was my first game I never thought about the winning or losing,” said Bracken. “I thought about what I expected to do myself in the game irrelevant of the score really.
“There was definitely an element of fear from us because they battered everyone. Against the All Blacks you can see the fear in everyone’s faces in that team.
“I think once Jon Callard kicked a few penalties and it was getting close everyone was looking round thinking we’re still in with a shout here. I’ll be honest, me and quite a few others were shitting ourselves quite a bit!”
There’s no baptism of fire quite like facing up to the Haka before your first England appearance, but while some are intimidated by it, Bracken found it had the opposite effect on him.
“It was great. I’ll always remember getting in line and I was playing against Stu Forster who is 5ft 9”, smaller than me, and thinking I’ll try and stare him out.
“But I couldn’t because in front of him was Inga Tuigamala the massive winger and he was staring at me when doing the Haka. I thought ‘I’m not playing against you I’m playing against the one at the back!’
“That was a great moment and people say the Haka is a psychological advantage for the All Blacks, but I found it engaging and inspiring for us to prove they’re not going to dominate us.”
More than 25 years may have passed since that memorable day, but Bracken remains active in the game and recently launched a new podcast with fellow ex-professional Nick Easter.
Guests on the Ruck It! podcast have included the likes of Tom Curry, Sir Ian Botham, Tendai Mtawarira and Sam Cane, and it’s been a welcome break from lockdown life for Bracken.
“I’d been to events with Nick before and he’s a good talker. It was my idea to start a podcast and I was looking for another player to bounce off.
“We’ve been getting really good feedback and good numbers but obviously it’s a tough time to get sponsorship so we’re just doing it for a bit of fun. The good thing is Nick and I have different opinions and don’t always agree.
“It’s sometimes light-hearted but also speaking to sportspeople and celebrities about real life issues. At one stage we were number the number one podcast in Luxembourg, I don’t know what that means!”
Another lockdown venture of Bracken’s has been the launch of his Skills Guru YouTube channel showcasing some of his best tricks shots and tutorials.
“I saw Joe Wicks and others doing stuff online and I’ve never really shared my scrum half coaching knowledge to others.
“I’ve been coaching my kids, doing drills with them in the garden and at the rugby club, and I thought why don’t I put something out there so that people can have a look and hopefully learn from. That was the idea but I’ve no idea how it’ll go!”