Chris Pennell

Chris Pennell
Pennell in the English Premiership
Full name Christopher James Pennell
Date of birth (1987-04-26) 26 April 1987
Place of birth Worcester, England
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 95 kg (14 st 13 lb)[1]
School Old Swinford Hospital
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Fullback, Wing, Centre
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2007– Worcester Warriors 141 (232)
correct as of 25 April 2015.
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2006
2015–
2014–		 England U-19s
England Saxons
England		 2
1
1		 (5)
(0)
(0)
correct as of 17 Jun 2014.

Chris Pennell (born 26 April 1987) is an English rugby union player. He currently plays for Worcester Warriors in the Aviva Premiership. He plays as a fullback and is a former captain of Worcester Warriors.

He is the son of former England cricketer Graham Dilley.[2][3] After his parents' marriage broke down, Pennell's mother married a British Army soldier, and Pennell took his surname.[4] The family moved to Portadown, Northern Ireland, where he was educated at Millington Primary School, and was a member of the victorious Gilpin cup side in 1999. Returning to England, he was educated at Old Swinford Hospital School in Stourbridge[2] where he played a key part in their run to the semi-finals of the Daily Mail Cup. Although head boy, he turned down the chance to captain the cricket first XI because of his A-levels.

Having been offered a professional contract at Worcester Warriors, he delayed his offer of a university place, making his Guinness Premiership debut against Bath Rugby in 2007/08, and representing England at Under 19 level. He became a key performer for the club during the 2008–09 English Premiership campaign, until he suffered a serious knee injury in Europe. He returned to full fitness, and grabbed tries against Connacht Rugby and Olympus Rugby XV Madrid in Europe during the 2009/10 season, making 16 appearances during the campaign and scoring five tries.

After signing a new two-year deal in February 2010, he became club captain for the 2010-11 RFU Championship campaign. In that campaign Worcester won 30 out of 31 games. After winning the play-off against Bedford Blues at Sixways and both legs of the play-off final, Worcester secured promotion to the Premiership for the 2011-12 season.[5] Pennell has been unlucky with injuries, suffering a severe ankle injury, a serious knee injury and the mental injury of his father Graham Dilley passing away.

In 2014, Pennell signed a contract until 2017 with Worcester Warriors. Pennell was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 19 years old. [6]

International career

In 2014, after a season of being Warriors' top performer, and the fans plus Dean Ryan himself supporting claims for Pennell to be in the England Squad, Pennell was called up to the England training squad by coach Stuart Lancaster, and in May he flew out with the squad for the Barbarians' fixtures.[7] He made his England debut during the tour, coming off the bench in the 20-15 loss to New Zealand.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Aviva Premiership Rugby - Worcester Warriors". web page. Premier Rugby. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 http://www.rfu.com/pdfs/U19MediaGuide_2006wc.pdf[]
  3. ↑ Brendan Gallagher (20 December 2007). "Chris Pennell chooses oval ball". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
  4. ↑ Mark Souster (27 December 2008). "Chris Pennell making name for himself". London: The Times. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Worcester Warriors 25-20 Cornish Pirates (agg 46-32)". BBC Sport. BBC News. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  6. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/36225872
  7. ↑ "Mike Brown: Harlequins full-back one of 21 added by England". BBC Sport. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "New Zealand beat England 20-15 through late Conrad Smith try". BBC Sport. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

External links

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