Bracken to make his mark in Castlebar

Bracken to make his mark in Castlebar


Rob Murphy

THE Irish women’s rugby team have garnered plenty of attention since their Grand Slam success of 2013. This month’s World Cup in France was front and centre in the sports news after they caused one of the bigger upsets in tournament history by beating the reigning champions New Zealand 17-14.
That result ultimately ended the Kiwis’ aspirations of a fifth successive world title, and while Ireland underperformed in the semi-final defeat to England, the tournament underlined the tremendous progress being made in women’s rugby on the island at the moment.
Their forwards coach for the tournament just so happens to be the new Castlebar head coach, Peter Bracken.
The Tullamore native, and former Connacht, Munster and Ireland A prop, is based in the Mayo town with his young family as his wife Rachel works in Baxter, and will be at the helm for the club as they look to bounce back to the top tier of Connacht club rugby next season.
Bracken won a Heineken Cup during his time at Wasps and also played in Carcassone for a couple of seasons during an eventful and successful career.
He now runs his own rugby coaching clinic under the title ‘the Scrum Doctor’. Securing his services as head coach is a real coup for a Castlebar side with bags of potential.
The challenge for Castlebar is getting stability as twice they have gained promotion to the top tier only to fall straight back to Division 1b the following season.
The second tier title will be the aim this year and Bracken will hope to implement a slightly altered approach during the campaign to get the Mayo club ready for a more consistent base in the years to come.