CHRIS PENNELL
Having Hogg in charge will get Warriors moving up the table
FRUSTRATED full-back Chris Pennell has revealed why coaching changes at Worcester were necessary to help salvage his side’s shocking league campaign.
Disappointing results heralded a recent reshuffle that saw Carl Hogg placed in full charge of team affairs, with performance director Nick Johnston taking a back seat.
Pennell believes a lack of clarity since Dean Ryan’s departure in June has hindered Warriors’ progress, but predicts a revival ahead of the crucial Boxing Day clash at Bristol. Pennell told The Rugby
Paper: “Players crave structure and a clear path of leadership, which is something we’ve not really had since Dean left.
“Dean was obviously the authoritative figure for so long and the natural thing would have been to have promoted Hoggy there and then – then it’s clear from the start.
“Maybe the dual-leadership of Hoggy and Nick was slightly confusing for the players and staff and it’s important for any organisation that you have someone at the head who is driving it, and then everybody can buy into that direction.
“It doesn’t always help when you’ve got two people at the top who might have slightly different opinions on things – and when results aren’t going well it makes you stop and address things and ask what you can perhaps do better.
“It’s been noted that we need clear direction we can all buy into and I think it will be a positive thing in how we operate moving forward.”
Worcester’s continuing inability to break a cycle of under-achievement that stretches back over 11 Premiership campaigns is a source of huge frustration for Pennell, whose side have again failed to deliver on optimistic pre-season noises.
Statistics show that in 10 completed Premiership seasons, Warriors have only once averaged more than two points per match, while their record of one Premiership win in ten outings this time represents their second worst effort.
A crippling injury list has not helped, with Worcester using 43 players in the league, but Pennell insists positives can be gleaned.
He said: “The injuries have created lots of opportunities for young guys to play at Premiership level and understand that they’re good enough.
“Guys like Jamie Shillcock, below, Perry Humphreys, Jack Singleton, Josh Adams and Dean Hammond have all burst on the scene, with Jamie really standing out. For a 19year-old to run the team at 10 and do what he’s done, he can go all the way.
“It’s creating real competition, which we haven’t had for years, and that’s such an important foundation for any successful team. “I know we’ve said it before, but there are so many positive things going on and we’re so close, but the last piece in the jigsaw is results. That’s incredibly frustrating because in most games we’ve lost, it’s our own mistakes costing us.” Pennell does not attempt to play down the significance of the showdown with Bristol, adding: “It’s a season-defining game for both teams. “We’ve got ourselves into a situation we shouldn’t be in and we understand the implications of what it means for either team to win or lose. It’s a huge game but we don’t intend hiding from that, we’ll face it full-on and get the job done.”