Peter Bracken (born 1 December 1977) is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

coach and former player and retired cage fighter. He played as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, primarily at tighthead. In his formative rugby years he played for

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midlands Reg ...

and also at St. Andrew's College, Dublin, which he attended on Scholarship.

Playing career

Bracken initially begun his career with

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

and

UL Bohemians UL Bohemian RFC is a rugby club based in Limerick, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. It is affiliated with the University of Limerick. UL Bohemians are sponsored by UL Sport, Samurai Sports and HOMS Solicitors. The symbol of ...

, and later joined

Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht B ...

for whom he played with for five seasons. During this time, he also featured in the

AIL Ail or AIL may refer to: * Illness, a state of poor health * Ail (''Sailor Moon''), a character in the ''Sailor Moon'' anime series * Acceptance in lieu, an arrangement in the UK for accepting works of art etc. in lieu of tax * Agilus, a Franki ...

with

Galwegians RFC Galwegians Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Galway, Ireland. Galwegians field over 16 teams including Men's and Women's Senior (Firsts), Junior (Seconds) and Men's Thirds as well as underage sides at all levels from U20 to U7. The ...

. In 2005, he moved to the English Premiership to play for

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club was a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby, until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022, the club entered administration, resulting in ...

, who, with Bracken, won an

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

in 2006, and a

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. Bracken featured heavily in the campaign and came on as a substitute in the final as Wasps defeated

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

25-9. He joined

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in 2007, although injury limited the number of games he played, and was subsequently released in January 2009. He joined Harlequins for the remainder of the 2008-09 season, before joining Newport Gwent Dragons in October 2009. His final season as a professional was in the French D2 with

US Carcassonne Union Sportive Carcassonnaise are a French rugby union club based in Carcassonne. US Carcassonne currently compete in the Nationale, the third tier of French rugby. The club was established in 1899. They play in black and yellow colours and at ...

in 2010-11.

Achievements

Bracken has represented the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, playing against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in May 2006. He was a member of the Irish squads on their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2006, and their 2007 tour of Argentina, as well as the extended squad for the 2007 World Cup. He has previously been capped by Ireland A, schoolboys and at under-18 levels.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from professional rugby, Bracken became heavily involved with rugby coaching and is an

IRFU IRFU or Irfu may refer to: * Irish Rugby Football Union, The Irish rugby football union (IRFU), is the national rugby association of Ireland *Interprovincial Rugby Football Union, a four-team league that merged with the Westerm Interprovincial Rugb ...

Elite Coach. He has been involved with multiple amateur and professional teams as a scrum coach, such as with

Boston Irish Wolfhounds The Boston Irish Wolfhounds Rugby Football Club (also known as BIWRFC) is a rugby union team based in Canton, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union (their LAU), the Northeast Rugby Union ...

in the United States' Rugby Super League,

Connemara RFC Connemara RFC is an Irish rugby team based in Clifden, Connacht. They play in Connacht Junior League in Division 1A. The club colour is all black, based on the colours of a popular fishing fly called the Connemara black. The club formerly play ...

in the AIL, and the Irish women's team. He also provides specialised scrum coaching and analysis through his company, The Scrum Doctor.The Scrum Doctor
/ref> Bracken was a member of the Irish women's back-room team during their fourth-place finish in the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, and during Ireland's

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

victory in 2015.

References

External links

The Scrum DoctorPeter Bracken
Bristol Rugby (Archived)
Peter Bracken
Wasps (Archived)
Peter Bracken
Statbunker.com (Archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bracken, Peter 1977 births Living people Irish rugby union players Bristol Bears players Connacht Rugby players Galwegians RFC players Wasps RFC players Barbarian F.C. players Dragons RFC players Sportspeople from Tullamore, County Offaly Rugby union players from County Offaly US Carcassonne players Rugby union props Irish expatriate rugby union players in France