Bracken out to relaunch career at Harlequins
The 30-year old, who won a Heineken Cup medal with Wasps in 2007, joined the London side this week after an unhappy spell with Bristol.
The former Connacht player joined Bristol a year-and-a-half ago but a neck injury seriously curtailed his activity last season.
This season he has found himself down the pecking order at the Memorial Ground but is now confident that his move to The Stoop will relaunch his career.
“It is a great opportunity to get and I am thrilled with it. It didn’t work out for me at Bristol but I am pleased all parties were able to reach agreement and I am really looking forward to playing for Harlequins.
“I had a lot of difficulty with injury last season but I am flying fit at the moment and can’t wait for game time,” said the Offaly native.
Bracken, who toured Australia and New Zealand in 2006 with Ireland but did not get capped, will link up with his former Galwegians coach John Kingston at Harlequins.
He had his first outing with his new club when he played in the second-half of an A fixture on Monday evening against Worcester on an all-weather surface in Brighton.
Meanwhile, former skipper Xavier Rush is ready to give the Cardiff Blues a huge Heineken Cup boost by ending his four-month injury nightmare at the RDS on Saturday. With crunch European games against Gloucester and Calvisano later this month, loose forward Rush expects to play some part against Magners League champions Leinster in Dublin.
Rush, 31, has played just 40 minutes this season after a kneecap injury and his return could not be more timely as fellow Kiwi Ben Blair has been ruled out for a month with a broken hand.
“Xavier is back in training and should be pushing for some involvement,” said Blues coach Dai Young. “Then hopefully he will be ready for the Heineken Cup. We’ve done well without him but there is no doubt he will give the squad a massive lift,” added the Blues coach.
The former All Black — who handed over the Blues captaincy to Paul Tito in the summer — had just returned from a shoulder injury when he picked up the knee problem in pre-season training.
Andy Powell has shone at number eight in Rush’s absence, establishing himself in the Wales team in the autumn and being mentioned as a strong Lions contender.
Meanwhile, former Ospreys coach Lyn Jones is poised to join the Dragons on a permanent basis.
The former Wales flanker left the Liberty Stadium last May but became a consultant at Principality Welsh Premiership club Ebbw Vale in October.
He then joined the Dragons in November as their attack coach when Dai Rees left to become Hong Kong’s director of rugby.
Originally, it was an interim appointment until the end of December but Jones is now on the verge of accepting a full-time role at Rodney Parade.
Speaking in November, Dragons coach Paul Turner said: “I believe Lyn would bring a wealth of knowledge to our coaching team.”
Jones left the Ospreys after guiding them to EDF Energy Cup glory last season, but Sean Holley and Jonathan Humphreys remain in caretaker charge after the region’s worldwide search for a new coach has yet to unearth a permanent successor.
