Remember Martin Offiah and Kyran Bracken? Their sons are flying with England U20s

Telegraph

5 hours ago

The England Under-20 side call themselves a 'brotherhood', but it is worth tracing bloodlines back one generation. Jack Bracken and Tyler Offiah, who are both wingers, are demonstrating that sporting excellence runs – rather quickly – in the family.
The former is the son of Kyran, a World Cup-winning scrum-half with England in 2003, and he acknowledges that the Bracken WhatsApp group has been pinging busily over recent days.
Charlie, the oldest of three siblings, was called into Steve Borthwick's senior set-up for a training camp last week. 'It's amazing, we're incredibly proud of what he's achieved,' says Jack. 'It's thoroughly deserved, I think. He's shown what he can do this season and has got recognition for it.'
Offiah, meanwhile, is making waves of his own. Martin's lad signed for Bath following the downfall of London Irish and has hit the ground sprinting. While he was inevitably nicknamed 'Mini Chariots' during his days at Wellington College, another moniker – 'Tryler' – is even catchier. 'That's my favourite,' admits the 18-year-old.
Conversation between the pair is amusing yet full of mutual respect and compliments. They have faced one another twice in their fledgling careers so far. 'We played an academy match when Tyler was at Irish,' remembers Bracken. 'Yeah, we lost by a few,' says Offiah. 'I scored, actually; I got an interception.'
'It was a close game, but we ran away with it,' continues Bracken, who has progressed through the ranks at Saracens and is eying a Premiership debut. The duo need a reminder that Offiah was part of the Bath United team that beat England Under-20 42-33 back in January. 'So it's one-all at the moment,' Bracken states with a smile.
Both were on the scoresheet as England dismissed Georgia 43-14 on Saturday in their last warm-up game ahead of the World Championship.
Offiah scorched down the left flank to cap a slick first-phase strike move in the first half. Later on, having arrived from the bench, Bracken burst into midfield to set up England's third score with a beautiful offload before bagging the fifth himself.
'Bracken is very balanced through contact,' Offiah says. 'He's got a strong lower body, so even if he gets hit one way or the other, he can keep his balance, ride the tackles and use his pace to get out of the other end.'
'With Tyler, it's his ability to beat defenders, especially on an edge, using his pace,' Bracken counters. 'He seems to score an intercept just about every game, so that's definitely impressive.'
Though these proteges are slightly different characters, with Offiah a touch more expressive, there are shared traits. For instance, there was no single moment that the success of their fathers dawned upon them. 'Since I've been a child, people have come up to my dad for pictures,' explains Offiah. 'It's been part of my life rather than one moment of realisation.'
'It's similar for me,' follows Bracken, born almost two years after the 2003 World Cup. 'Growing up, I've always been around a rugby environment and come to know he must have been a decent player. Then you see highlights and appreciate he must have been pretty good.'
That is not to say that Kyran and Martin held their offspring in front of footage under duress. 'My dad posts his highlights on his Instagram,' Offiah shrugs. The picture they both paint is of constructive, encouraging influence. In Offiah's case, his appetite for finishing has been nurtured, too.
'It started when I was at Wellington, just thinking how I could get on the ball more and score more tries,' he says of a seminal chat with Martin, an icon of rugby league.
'We sat down and he got me to write down the different ways I'd seen people score. We spoke about how you could rate each one from a difficulty standpoint but also for entertainment value.'
The Offiahs now place each of Tyler's tries on a scale that runs from one to five: 'Level one is a basic 'tap-in', maybe one in the corner when your team is on top and you dot it down.
'Level two is a finish one the edge, perhaps after beating someone. Level three is a support try, if you track on the inside and follow someone's line. Level four is a line-break, going through and beating the full-back.
'Level five is a special; catching a drop-out and going through everyone. You want to get your numbers up with ones and twos, but everyone remembers the fives.'
It is noticeable that both naturally abbreviate 'the Prem', which will please the competition's executives given a re-brand is coming up. In another mark of their tender ages, Offiah and Bracken have leant on YouTube to hone aspects of their game. Interestingly, a shared role model is Chris Ashton.
'I didn't watch rugby until I was around 13 because I found it boring,' concedes Offiah, who trained with Wigan Warriors in December 2023 and would stay open to a code switch after a tilt at his ambitions in union.
'I couldn't be arsed to sit down and watch it until my dad forced me to. But when I started doing that, my idol became Anthony Watson. I think I saw a few similarities and aspired to be like him. There was also Chris Ashton; how he scored lots of tries and always wanted to be involved. It was hard to watch a Chris Ashton game without seeing a Chris Ashton try and I really liked that.'
'The first role model I remember is Chris Ashton from watching Sarries and England,' Bracken adds. 'He always seemed to have an impact on the game and his celebration stood out to me – not that it's something I'd try to copy – but his work-rate off the ball was always impressive.
'He wasn't necessarily the very quickest player but his fitness was special. Another player is Will Jordan and I'd like to think I see a bit of myself in his ability to play across the back three. He picks up so many touches a game and has an influence off the ball as well as on it.'
A select few teenagers, such as Henry Pollock, who is still eligible for England U20 but will be with the British and Irish Lions this summer, rip through the ranks to the top level. Others must dot around to pick up game-time where they can. Offiah and Bracken have both represented their universities, Bath and Loughborough, this term. Premiership Cup campaigns are another opportunity to impress.
Bracken has been loaned to Amtphill in the Championship as well, plundering four tries from full-back in a 54-43 victory over Cambridge. A week later, Offiah was brought off the Bath bench at Saracens. He found his way onto the scoresheet, notching a finish that probably categorised between levels one and two given he drifted cleverly on Orlando Bailey's long pass to outflank Tobias Elliott.
A delighted Offiah bunched his hands into fists and crossed his arms to form an unmistakable 'T' in celebration. 'Scoring on my Prem debut against Sarries in Alex Goode's last game, playing against Lions like Elliot Daly and Maro Itoje… that's my biggest accomplishment and I was proud of myself that day.'
Scoring tries runs in the Offiah family 🔥
Just 10 minutes into his #GallagherPrem debut Tyler Offiah, son of rugby league legend Martin, dotted down for @BathRugby in Round 18 👏 pic.twitter.com/RzemKNyhZZ
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) June 1, 2025
We can expect to hear more about both families in a sporting context. The youngest Bracken boy, Lachlan, is a fly-half in the Saracens nursery. Phoenix Offiah, just 15 and pursuing the round-ball route, is on the books at Tottenham.
Ben Redshaw and Jack Cotgreave are among the back-three options at Mark Mapletoft's disposal, each of them having featured in the Premiership over the past few months. Noah Caluori and Will Knight have been promoted from England U19 and U18 teams as well. The squad that travels to Italy, where they begin with pool matches against Scotland, South Africa and Australia, will possess considerable firepower.
Bracken and Offiah bring different perspectives. The first, eight months older, already has eight appearances for England U20 in World Championship and Six Nations games. Offiah has just one, against Scotland in February.
'Coming straight in from school last year felt a bit daunting,' Bracken says. 'This has already been different and I'm trying to serve the team as best as possible by using that experience, whether that's by speaking up in meetings or talking on the pitch. It's a role I'm really enjoying.'
'It's about fighting for my place because there are a lot of people who are deserving but not everyone can get on that plane,' Offiah finishes. 'I want to make the most of every opportunity.'
Both are palpably hungry to do their best by the England side and clinch silverware again. Whatever happens at that tournament, the names of Bracken and Offiah should remain in the consciousness for some time.