Much has been
documented about the Worcester Warriors, they first hit the headlines long
before the season even started with the appointment of Dean Ryan and since have
featured heavily on a weekly basis however not always for the best of reasons.
The Warriors’ ‘difficult run of form’, to put it politely, has been a hot topic
of discussion and until Round 18 the players and management had precious little
to smile about. However throughout the season one man has received an awful lot
of praise and that is Chris Pennell, he has been the shining light in what at
times has been a sea of darkness, after such a draining and dramatic season to
date I caught up with the man himself to find out more about the fiercest
Warrior of them all;
Chris joined
Worcester in 2007 and is a rare ‘One Club Man’ club although when I asked him
about this I did end up calling him a ‘One Man Club’ which I think also fits
quite nicely (!) regardless the first and most obvious question to ask was why
Worcester?
“At the very
beginning I was just playing rugby for my school in Birmingham and the academy
coaches at the time were in contact with the school to see players that were
worth looking at… I was invited down to play a couple of A League games and
that was it, I was more than happy to take a gap year and play with the academy
for a year. I never really knew that I would be good enough, anything after
that first year has been a bonus, in all honestly I’ve been delighted to stay
and play at my home club.”
During the past
seven years it really has been a roller-coaster ride for the Warriors who have
experienced the highs of promotion and more recently the lows of a rather long
losing run, throughout the good times and the bad Chris has worked hard at his own
game and strived to develop. Often upswings in form are credited to an
individual, for example Danny Cipriani and Steve Black, and I wondered if this
was the case for Chris;
“It is really has been a combination of factors;
obviously the coaching staff have had an awful lot to do with it, they’ve given
me confidence to go out and play back my instincts however being able to get a
run of games under my belt and being fit for a long period of time has also
done wonders for me, after all being out on the field and playing is the best
way to learn and improve. There are probably a million and one other things
that have clicked to mean that I am now
playing at somewhere close to the level that I can do, but I can
honestly say that there is still a lot more to come!"
Given Chris’
talent many have tipped him to be in the mix when it comes to the International
arena and earlier in the year when he was out of contract the expectation was that
he would jump ship in order to peruse this ambition however Chris did exactly the
opposite and extended his contract at Sixways until June 2017. Naturally I was
keen to hear about Chris’ thought processes when making this decision;
“Well it wasn’t the easiest decision, it obviously was
difficult when then there was talk about the fact that if I moved on I would be
given opportunities to play for England however I have not had conversations
with England coaches that would suggest that to be the case and my heart is at
this club.
I’m happy where I am and with the new coaching set up
the way it is and the systems that have been put in place I can see this place
starting to fulfil its potential over the next 3 years. As a local lad who has
been at the Club for a long time I have experienced the tough times and I want
to be a part of the good times too and play a central role in that. I want to
look back and be proud of what we achieved together at Worcester Warriors."
Much was
discussed pre-season about the ‘Dean Ryan Affect’ the term is thrown about left,
right and centre and it was fantastic to have to opportunity to ask someone
with direct experience of the man himself just what exactly the ‘Dean Ryan Affect’ is;
“Obviously
Dean is a great coach however there is a lot more to it than that, Dean would
be a very shrewd business man as well, he understands how an organisation works
and how organisation needs to operate in order to be successful. Some of his
largest challenges here have actually been off the field, putting into place
processes that haven’t been there over the last few years. Dean has the full
backing of the board and this is absolutely massive, the whole board are fully aware and bought into of his
vision for the club and the direction that we need to move in to achieve it and
I wouldn’t say that, that has been the case over the last few years.”
“Since
his arrival there has been a significant change in the quality of the coaching,
a lot of areas that were swept under the carpet in the past are now being dealt
with for example basic skills and performing under pressure and these are
starting to come together. Away from the field processes have been put in place
for a sustainable future in order to create home grown talent and crucially to
keep hold of them, we need a very vibrant academy system and again that doesn’t
spring up over night.”
Worcester’s run
of losses has been well documented and I believe even smashed some records,
having played semi professional sport myself I know just how difficult it can
be after one or two losses let alone a huge number of them on the bounce and I
wanted to know just how Chris and his fellow Warriors retained their
motivation;
“Of course it is difficult to pick yourself up, it is
never fun losing and it is certainly is tough coming in on a Monday morning
when you are 6, 7, 8 games into a losing streak however you simply have to
because the minute that you allow your spirits to be defeated is the minute
that you should throw the towel in.”
“There are an awful lot of positive personalities and
characters around this club, more so than many of you see, and we pick each
other up. Obviously you don’t forget that you lost at the weekend but the
banter and camaraderie helps to mentally move on, refocus and start getting
excited about the opportunity of another game at the weekend”.”
Worcester’s
first taste of success was their gutsy win against fellow relegation rivals the
Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park just a few days ago and like all good team
players Chris kept fairly tight lipped about their celebrations and simply
admitted that ‘yes they had enjoyed a few beers on the way back from the game’.
However what was most pertinent was the fact that he immediately followed that
answer with the words;
“Let’s not forget that we have nothing to celebrate
yet, the only time when we can celebrate is if we secure Premiership Rugby for
another season, we have a big job to do before then.”
The task is a
daunting one, mathematically survival is still possible, realistically, well we
will just have to wait and see on that one. Dean Ryan has described Chris as one
of his ‘Senior Players’, one of the players that he is shaping the Worcester
Warriors around and seeing his output on the pitch as well as speaking to him
off it; it is easy to see why. Chris epitomises the word professional and has a
great personality to go with it... this was one of the easiest and most relaxed
interviews that I have done in spite of the fact that I was touching on
subjects of a rather sensitive nature and really digging deep into Chris’
answers. Whatever happens this year for the Worcester Warriors, relegation or
survival, Chris will be an integral part of the club for a number of years to
come and I for one hope that the club does progress and provide Chris with
those golden memories and moments to cherish because boy does he deserve it.
“It is really has been a combination of factors; obviously the coaching staff have had an awful lot to do with it, they’ve given me confidence to go out and play back my instincts however being able to get a run of games under my belt and being fit for a long period of time has also done wonders for me, after all being out on the field and playing is the best way to learn and improve. There are probably a million and one other things that have clicked to mean that I am now playing at somewhere close to the level that I can do, but I can honestly say that there is still a lot more to come!"
Much was discussed pre-season about the ‘Dean Ryan Affect’ the term is thrown about left, right and centre and it was fantastic to have to opportunity to ask someone with direct experience of the man himself just what exactly the ‘Dean Ryan Affect’ is;
Worcester’s run of losses has been well documented and I believe even smashed some records, having played semi professional sport myself I know just how difficult it can be after one or two losses let alone a huge number of them on the bounce and I wanted to know just how Chris and his fellow Warriors retained their motivation;
“Of course it is difficult to pick yourself up, it is never fun losing and it is certainly is tough coming in on a Monday morning when you are 6, 7, 8 games into a losing streak however you simply have to because the minute that you allow your spirits to be defeated is the minute that you should throw the towel in.”
“There are an awful lot of positive personalities and characters around this club, more so than many of you see, and we pick each other up. Obviously you don’t forget that you lost at the weekend but the banter and camaraderie helps to mentally move on, refocus and start getting excited about the opportunity of another game at the weekend”.”
Worcester’s first taste of success was their gutsy win against fellow relegation rivals the Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park just a few days ago and like all good team players Chris kept fairly tight lipped about their celebrations and simply admitted that ‘yes they had enjoyed a few beers on the way back from the game’. However what was most pertinent was the fact that he immediately followed that answer with the words;
“Let’s not forget that we have nothing to celebrate yet, the only time when we can celebrate is if we secure Premiership Rugby for another season, we have a big job to do before then.”
