Where are they now? Worcester's 2015 promotion-winning side

It is ten years to the day that Chris Pennell’s last-gasp try, converted by Ryan Lamb, secured Worcester Warriors a 30-30 draw with Bristol and a thrilling 59-58 aggregate victory.

The Warriors, who’d lost just three times in 22 regular-season games, two of which were to Bristol, both by four points, had made it third time lucky when they grabbed a narrow 29-28 first-leg win at Ashton Gate.

However, Bristol were in command in the return match, with tries from Jack Lam, Jack Tovey and Matthew Morgan giving them a 30-16 lead and putting the Premiership in sight for the first time in six years, before a penalty try was awarded against them and then Pennell and Lamb combined to break their hearts.

Worcester had won promotion via the Championship playoffs four years earlier, but this time around, it was so much more dramatic, as the Warriors were also taken to the wire by Bedford in the semi-finals.

So what became of the Worcester Warriors side from that memorable night under the floodlights at Sixways?

15: Chris Pennell: Once-capped England full-back and the son of late England fast-bowler Graham Dilley. Scored 43 tries in 253 Premiership games for the club. He is now a surveyor with Worcester-based Clarke & Jay Chartered Surveyors.

14. Tom Biggs: England Saxons winger was Head of Strength and Conditioning for China Rugby and is now head coach of Thailand Rugby.

13. Alex Grove: The Scotland centre, whose grandfather Ron Wylie managed West Bromwich Albion, runs a property development firm, New Venture Housing.

12. Ryan Mills: England under-20 centre who played for Waps and Sale Sharks and suffered injury problems before retiring. Has worked in recruitment for Ernest Gordon Recruitment.

11. Cooper Vuna: A dual-code international winger who finished his career in France in June 2024. He is now a talent scout for the Melbourne-based sports management firm Ginnen Group.

10. Ryan Lamb: The England Saxons fly-half started his coaching career at Hartpury University and is now based in Cornwall. Plymouth Albion’s head coach.

9. Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier: Much-travelled scrum-half who is still playing for Rotherham Titans, where he also acts as head of the club’s Community Foundation.

1 Val Rapava Ruskin: Georgian-born loosehead whose father, George, played for Georgia. He is still playing in the Premiership for Gloucester and is an accomplished artist.

2. Agustin Creevy: Former Pumas hooker, who celebrated his 40th birthday in March last week, announced that he was hanging up his boots after leaving URC outfit Benetton.

3. Nick Schonert: The Former South Africa A under-20 tighthead is currently playing in Japan for Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars after leaving Sale Sharks earlier in the year.

4. James Percival: The former England under-21 lock is now based in Hautes Pyrenees, France, where he finished his career and is the managing director of CBD firm Huge Gorilla.

5. Jonathan Thomas: Wales lock has coached at Bristol Bears, Worcester, Ealing Trailfinders, the WRU and The King’s School in Gloucester.

6. Mike Williams: Zimbabwe-born fanker, who had spells at Exeter, Bath and Leicester before finishing his career with Japanese minnows Kurita Water Gush Akishima. Now works as a sales associate with Bristol-based Globus Medical.

7. Sam Betty: The flanker is back in Cornwall, where he is the Director and Head Coach of Lift Gum, a bespoke training facility in Truro.

8. GJ van Velze: South African No. 8, who captained the Warriors, is a partner in a luxury footwear firm, Van Velze & Smith Leather, a business he co-founded in 2020.

Replacements:

Niall Annett: Former Ireland under-20 hooker came off the bench for Bath in their 2025 Challenge Cup Final victory over Lyon in Cardiff.

Ryan Bower: Loosehead has coached for the RFU and Worcester’s Royal Grammar School, is a scrum coach for Hartpury, and is the under-17s coach for Hartpury College and Gloucester’s Academy.

Joe Rees: Wales under-20 tighthead is a Mortgage and Protection Broker at Eastside IFS in his native Swansea, where he started his career with the Ospreys.

Leonardo Senatore: The Pumas back-rower went into coaching with Los Teros before being appointed the Head Coach of Uruguayan side, Peñarol, and has also acted as an assistant coach of the national team.

Jamie Shillcock: England A and under-20 full-back and fly-half. He is currently playing for Leicester Tigers, but is joining Pro D2 outfit Brive this summer.

Ravai Fatiaki: The Fijian centre, who also operated at fly-half, has served in the British Army as a Network Engineer in the Royal Corps of Signals.

Ben Howard: The winger, who was part of England’s 2013 Junior World Cup-winning squad, qualified as a surveyor and is now an associate director of property consultancy JLL.