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Chris Pennell's bold prediction despite Worcester winning only 58 of 220 games in his 10 Premiership campaigns
Chris Pennell is fully aware of how fortunate he is to be facing into the new Gallagher Premiership campaign which starts for Worcester this Saturday at home to Leicester. A testimonial season usually means only one thing: that you are over the hill and after all the ‘thanks for memories’ celebrations, you are usually shipped into retirement and quickly forgotten about.
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Pennell, though, is an exception to that rule. At the age of 32 and with a two-year contract extension signed just last January, this one-club man still has plenty to offer in a career where he first burst onto the scene in 2007. Recent experiences at Sixways have even opened his eyes to lasting well beyond the summer 2021 expiry of his latest deal.
Former team-mates Donncha O’Callaghan and Peter Stringer, Grand Slam winners with Ireland in 2009, were respectively aged 39 and 40 before they were eventually escorted into the rugby afterlife in summer 2018, Pennell soaking up all the little tricks which kept them in rude health for so long.
“Last season made me reflect an awful lot,” he told RugbyPass after his 13th pre-season gave way to a Premiership Cup campaign where he started two of Worcester’s four matches. “Not many people get the opportunity to have a testimonial year and I’d say fewer people still have the opportunity to still be playing for a few years after.
“It’s certainly made me look back and reflect on everything, appreciate how fortunate I am to have had a career as long as I have had so far and to still be lucky enough to still be in a position to really positively contribute on and off the field in an environment where there are very few people who are as lucky as I have been.
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“The testimonial year forced me in a way to be grateful that I’m still in the position I am in. I will savour every training day and every match day over the next few years because everything comes to an end at some stage.
“What I don’t want to do is blink and for it all to have come to an end without having had the opportunity to step back and appreciate where I am right now which is what the experiences last year have allowed me to do,” he continued before going onto weigh up for reasons for his longevity in a sport where early retirement is an occupational hazard.
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“Donncha and Peter Stringer were with us, both in their late 30s and still performing at a really good standard and physically in great shape. They give you hope in a way that you can still crack on as long as the body is good.
? Eight tries against Leicester already this season ?
Join us for the Gallagher Premiership opener on Saturday ??
— Worcester Warriors (@WorcsWarriors) October 15, 2019
“The lessons from the two of them is you look at how professional they were. It wasn’t just a case of miss some days but not others. Donncha’s professionalism shone through every day so stuff like that was pretty inspiring and it set the standard for a lot of our youngsters as well.
“It’s something that has been clear to see over the last couple of seasons and because of the likes of Donncha, you look at the way that our young boys are looking after themselves and the extras they do in the recovery, their foam rolling after sessions and using the ice bath. It’s a really good legacy those guys have left behind.”
Keeping it all together upstairs is also of huge importance. “The mental health side of it is almost separate in a lot of ways. Even the likes of Donncha, who is obviously an incredibly, incredibly bubbly character, he would be the first to admit that it’s not been easy to transition away from the game and there have been some hard moments.
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Truly overwhelmed by all the messages of support. I was very nervous in the lead up to the article coming out, but hearing so many stories of others in similar positions has reinforced how important the issue is, both inside and outside of sport
— Kearnan Myall (@kearnanmyall) August 20, 2019
“The mental health side of it, as Kearnan (Myall) has pointed out, is a huge area that is under appreciated. It’s just not given the due diligence it deserves. That will change. Ultimately we are incredibly fortunate to be doing what we are doing but it is not always easy to appreciate that because you do get some very tough times along the way.”
Tough is the apt description for Worcester’s fortunes with Pennell. Ten of his twelve seasons at the club has been spent in the Premiership but it hasn’t been a barrel of laughs rubbing shoulders with the English elite.
Victory has been tasted on just 58 occasions in Warriors’ 220 matches, a meagre 26.3 per cent success rate, and the legacy of their 150 defeats (their remaining twelve games were drawn) is four 10th place finishes, four 11th place finished and two relegations for finishing 12th.
?? Round 1?? fixtures ??
Every win is like gold dust in the #GallagherPrem ? who can kick-start their season and get the ball rolling with a victory??
Three peaches on @btsport ?
____ is the most competitive game of the weekend ??
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) October 16, 2019
Breaking that existence of only every being in or around the bottom would mean the world to Pennell, with last season’s effort giving rise to optimism for an even better campaign this term.
Never before during the Pennell era had nine Premiership matches been won – two more their previous best of seven – and while it was only good enough to secure 10th spot last May, so competitive was the league that the reality was they were only 10 points off fourth place.
“It would mean a massive amount,” enthused Pennell about his desire to finally break a cycle of under-achievement. “It is difficult not to get drawn into the goal setting in terms of ‘this season isn’t successful if we don’t finish in the top six’.
The photos from the Worcestershire Sourced Dinner are now up in our Facebook page – head over, put your feet up and have a scroll through ?
Thanks again to @GreggAWallace and all you lovely lot who came to celebrate with us ?#CP15 #Worcestershirehour pic.twitter.com/pSVShC7zdB— Chris Pennell Testimonial 18/19 (@CPTestimonial) July 6, 2019
“You almost need to break away from that cycle and look at what we are doing within. A successful season this year will be to do with our performance and how many of the young guys starting to come through develop over the course of this season.
“The two go hand and hand. If we push on in-house, if the youngsters can take strides in positive directions and if we can perform well week in week out and have some consistency, the league position kind of takes care of itself.
“I love this time of year because it is a bit like the New Year is after Christmas for a lot of people. It’s a fresh slate and a clean start. There were a lot of positives towards the end of last season with the way we were playing and to finish with as many wins as we did.
“A lot of positives can float through with us into this year and there is an awful lot of excitement and optimism about what this season could hold for us… if we can just nudge a couple of per cent ahead of the majority then it will stand us in really good stead to kick on up the league and break this cycle we have had of sitting in the bottom three.
“We are more than capable off it. We feel going into this year our squad has a very different look to it. When you sit down and write down all the names on paper for each position it’s really, really tough to pick out the strongest 23. It’s almost impossible.
“There is some serious tosses of the coin over a lot of positions. It’s a very, very healthy place to be. I’m confident the coaches and the management will get things right and we will be able to utilise the squad that we are fortunate to have. There is absolutely no reason why we can’t be in the top half of the league this year.”
"You've got to back yourself, that's what I love about this kid!"@WorcsWarriors have a real player on their hands!
Tom Howe completed his hat-trick against Exeter Chiefs in style ? pic.twitter.com/803chk01Hl
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) October 4, 2019
The curious thing about this weekend’s Premiership lift-off is that it will play second fiddle to the World Cup as England take on Australia in the quarter-finals on Saturday. Family life means Pennell doesn’t get much of a chance to keep tabs on rugby when at home but having been once capped by England on their 2014 tour to New Zealand, he tries to follow the action where possible.
“I don’t actively avoid it but I don’t watch a huge amount of it,” he explained. “I love the game and I’m incredibly passionate about it – and I do try and catch up with the highlights and stuff but it’s more kind of justifying the two hours sitting on the sofa that I struggle to do with the kids charging around.
“It’s more I like my family time as well but certainly when England are running out on the field I will definitely be watching for sure. Keeping an eye on the other sides as well, but rugby doesn’t feature a huge amount once I get home and drop the keys in the bowl.”
'It has been a whirlwind the last two-and-a-half seasons of just non-stop playing bar a couple of injuries'
– Young hooker @JackSingleton14 talks to @heagneyl about the excellent Worcester apprenticeship that is getting him many admirers ? https://t.co/uGVnPNaDuA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 16, 2019
That said, he does have great pride that England’s Jack Singleton and Wales’ Josh Adams earned their stripes to gain selection for their tournament at Worcester before off-season club moves elsewhere. “Just because Jack is going to be playing his club rugby for another team doesn’t mean we don’t still see him as a very close friend. Jack will echo the fact that Worcester created the platform for him to showcase his talents.
“We’re thrilled to have been a big part off his development. Likewise, Josh who is wearing a different colour jersey. We are unbelievably proud of the way these young guys have kicked on and the fact that we have had a hand to play in that is fantastic,” he said before wrapping up with a nod to Ben Te’o, another ex-Worcester who had the misfortune of being excluded by England at a late stage.
“It’s brutal for Ben, but that is the nature of the sport. He will be unbelievably disappointed but also understand the nature off pro sport as well as everyone else. It is very disappointing for him, no doubt.”
WATCH: RugbyPass explores the stunning scenery of Oita and the surrounding area ahead of this weekend’s World Cup quarter-finals
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
4 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
6 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
8 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
8 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
4 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to comments