It seems sense that Jack Bracken made headlines after England defeated France in the World Rugby U20s Championship opening round on Saturday.
Although the 18-year-old right winger’s try in his debut at that specific age-grade level was no small feat, coach Mark Mapletoft didn’t save much praise for him following the team’s 40-21 victory over Argentina.
It seems sense that Jack Bracken made headlines after England defeated France in the World Rugby U20s Championship opening round on Saturday. Although the 18-year-old right winger’s try in his debut at that specific age-grade level was no small feat, coach Mark Mapletoft didn’t save much praise for him following the team’s 40-21 victory over Argentina.
The defending Six Nations champions had a difficult time in Athlone; they fell behind 0–14 before rallying to take a 26–21 lead. With 17 minutes left in the game, Mapletoft used his bench to insert 17-year-old Lucas Friday.
In the brief time he was on the field, England won 14-0, and his coach wasn’t afraid to heap praise on the young player and make sure he was included in his who-did-well post-game analysis. Billy Sela, in my opinion, was outstanding in every facet of the game.Sean Kerr performed admirably in terms of backs, Mapletoft told RugbyPass.
It’s good to see Ben Redshaw return to this setting and include some of his Falcons form. I also think Nathan Michelow, one of our more seasoned guys, was excellent. While it’s never easy to single out a player, several of them had some really impressive highlight reels.
“I think I should save the best part for Lucas. Lucas doesn’t turn 18 until later in July, so his ability to perform under pressure in that setting with only 20 minutes remaining, manage, and organise, says a lot about him as a person and about the team, as well as how they have come together to support and incorporate him into the group because Archie (McParland) was a huge loss for us.
“We definitely got off to a sluggish start. Not so much in terms of the opportunities we produced, but rather in terms of our precision and level of clinical expertise. In the first half alone, there were likely three or four clean line breaks that could have led to tries but didn’t.
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