Son of World Cup winner replaces Archie McParland in England camp

Charlie Bracken, son of RWC 2003 winner and fellow scrum-half Kyran, has been called into England’s three-day alignment camp after Archie McParland was forced to withdraw due to illness.

Bracken, 22, was a regular starter for England U20s in 2022 and 2023 and is now on Steve Borthwick’s radar for the senior team.

He has played just over 50 games for Saracens since making his debut in the 2021/22 season, having spent some time on loan at Ampthill in the Champ.

It is a blow for Saints tyro McParland, who’d have been looking to catch the eye of the England head coach with club teammate Alex Mitchell (hamstring) and Ben Spencer (shoulder) rehabbing injuries.

Bracken joins Bristol’s Harry Randall and Leicester’s Jack van Poortvliet as the third scrum-half in the group of 36, which met at Pennyhill Park on Sunday to begin preparations for the Nations Championship in November.

England welcome Australia to Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Sunday 8 November in Round 4, before taking on Japan and New Zealand ahead of a finals weekend.

Updated England training squad:

Forwards:
Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Ben Earl (Saracens), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), George Kloska (Bristol Bears), George Martin (Saracens), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Kepueli Tuipulotu (Bath Rugby), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)

Backs:
Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Charlie Bracken (Saracens), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Tobias Elliott (Saracens), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Harlequins), Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)

Rehabilitation: Jamie George (Saracens), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers).