England captain reveals Courtney Lawes inspiration

Bray is currently leading England during the U18 International Series in South Africa, which has got underway with wins over Georgia and France.

The flanker, who plays his club rugby for Sale, has quickly established himself as one of the country's brightest young prospects.

Standing at 6ft5, or "6ft6 with shoes on", Bray prides himself on his physicality. He has already stepped up to England U19 level, featuring against Wales last December when he was just 17.

Before travelling to South Africa, Bray spent the opening weeks of pre-season with Sale Sharks' senior squad, giving him the opportunity to train alongside new signing Courtney Lawes following the former England star's move from CA Brive this summer.

Lawes arrives with a wealth of experience, having earned 105 England caps and toured twice with the British and Irish Lions. Even after a short time together, Bray says the veteran has already made an impression.

"He's obviously very experienced so there's so many learnings. I always note them down when I've got time to but he's a great aspiration to go after."

Bray has already experienced playing at Twickenham after representing Kirkham Grammar in the 2024 U18 National Schools Cup final, where they suffered a narrow defeat to Harrow School. However, his ambition is to return wearing an England shirt.

"It's a dream to play at Twickenham and it came true but the dream to play at Twickenham with an England badge on is a completely different story.

"Playing there without an England badge on has made me realise that I want to get there with an England badge on as soon as possible."

His sporting future could easily have taken a different path. A Manchester City supporter, Bray played as a striker in his younger years and described himself as a "Peter Crouch" type player.

However, at around 10 years old he decided to commit fully to rugby, believing the culture around the sport suited him far more.

"The whole thing around rugby is that it's more of a team sport. You see a lot of footballers with a big ego, obviously not everyone is, but the whole sport is ego and money whereas rugby is, for me, family and friends.

"How people view rugby as a sport is miles better."

As England U18 captain, Bray says he tries to lead both on and off the field. While standards remain high during training and recovery, he believes building relationships away from rugby is just as important.

"Off pitch, I like to take my mind off rugby and enjoy the time with the lads. We've got a rule that everyone needs to bond as a team and that makes the team better.

"Still driving the standards, we've got to get the recovery done, we've got to eat right and we've got to go to sleep at the right time, stuff like that. But on pitch, I'd say I'm pretty serious and make sure we're getting the work done on the pitch."

Looking to the future, Bray has been full-time with Sale since June and has decided against going to university, with no BUCS Super Rugby programme linked to the club.

Instead, he plans to continue his education through coaching while focusing on playing as much rugby as possible, with a loan spell likely to aid his development.

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