Penberthy quits Reds to become boy in blue
AARON PENBERTHY has swapped the playbook for the lawbook as he begins a new career in the State of Jersey Police.
One of the Championship’s most consistent operators over the last decade, fly-half Penberthy hung up his professional boots in March after a career that took in two spells at Jersey Reds as well as Cornish Pirates and Ealing Trailfinders.
The 28-year-old, who made his Pirates debut in 2011/12, scored over 500 Championship points but, very soon, he’ll be issuing penalties not kicking them.
The Cornishman was sworn in on July 16 and is now in the final week of his ten-week training course in Norfolk.
“It’s been a big eyeopener that’s for sure,” he said. “You see live footage of a lot of stuff, and some of it is quite disturbing.
“I enjoy helping people and I think I’ve good communication skills, but you never know how you’re going to react until you see and have to deal with some of the things we’re being taught at the moment.”
When Penberthy and his Jersey-born wife returned to the Island in 2018, he started to make plans for life after rugby and considered the fire service as well as the police.
Given the way things have worked out with the Championship and the drastic funding cuts, Penberthy appears to have got out in the nick of time.
“A few of my mates have finished playing and have got into a bad mental state because they don’t know what they’re doing,” he said. “They have one job for a few months and then another one... I’ve been very happy because I knew what I wanted to do, and was lucky enough to get through the recruitment stage.”
Throughout the process, which began in August 2019, Penberthy enjoyed the support of the Reds.
And a ringing endorsement of life in uniform came from former teammate-turned-constable, Mark McCrea, who is coming towards the end of his two-year probation period.
“I spoke to Mark about it and he says he wouldn’t do anything else now – he absolutely loves it,” Penberthy said.
“Luckily, my final interview day fell on a free weekend for Jersey, so I didn’t have to have a difficult conversation with (DoR) Harvey Biljon!”
Rugby is in Penberthy’s genes. His dad Dave is the current president of Redruth RFC, as was his grandad before him.
Not being able to jink past opponents or try a cheeky drop-goal is something he’ll miss, but he is expecting some of his rugby skills to come in handy on the beat.
“This week we’ve been doing PST (personal safety training) stuff, using sprays, hand cuffing people and practising take down moves. I was pretty good at it because a lot of it was like rugby with the grappling,” he said.
“With everything that has been going on, I haven’t been able to give too much thought to how much I’ll miss rugby but certainly it was always such a good feeling to be training with your mates.
“I’m sure once the games start up again, I’ll miss it even more. Nine years is a long time to be doing something day in, day out.
“Rugby is all I’ve ever done – I’ve never had a Saturday job and, even when I was 17, I was playing National One for Redruth and nothing else. I was just picking up the match fees.”
Once Penberthy joins McCrea in passing his probation period, he will earn £54,000 a year.
“That’s more than I was ever on in the Championship, even at Ealing,” he revealed. “Being on a Championship wage is not sustainable, really.
“Everything has fallen into place for me, and I’m glad I got out when I did. I’ve still got mates in the Championship and it’s horrible with what’s happening with all the cuts.”
It was at Ealing where Penberthy says he enjoyed his time in professional rugby the most, even if Alex Codling’s playbook was almost as complex as the Jersey legal system.
“He is one of my favourite coaches because of his desire and love for rugby, it’s just crazy,” Penberthy said.
“With Codders, you’d have a call for every little thing. As a 10 you have to know the playbook like the back of your hand, but he was one of the only coaches I had who wanted the scrum-half and the 10 to know the lineout calls as well as everything else.
“I suppose with the laws (of the land) it’s like a big playbook but in different circumstances.
“Rugby is something you grow up with, and if you get it wrong on the rugby field, it is something you can put right afterwards.
“But if you do something wrong in policing you can end up going to jail or being prosecuted for not doing your job properly.”