WORCESTER Warriors have received a welcome boost ahead of the Greene King IPA Championship final with the return of Sixways star Chris Pennell.
The England international, who has not featured since limping off against Bristol last month, has been drafted straight into the starting 15 for the first leg at Ashton Gate tomorrow night (Wednesday).
Max Stelling remains sidelined with a hamstring strain, but Ben Howard has recovered from a head injury picked up in Warriors’ semi-final victory over London Scottish and has been named on the bench.
This will be a big relief for director of rugby Dean Ryan as wing Cooper Vuna was forced to play at full back for 70 minutes against the Exiles.
But Ryan insisted they will still need to be at their very best to beat Bristol, who have already beaten Warriors twice this season.
“We need everybody at the top of their form and even then it will still be decided by tight margins but we’ve given ourselves the best chance by getting everybody prepared and ready to go,” he said.
“We need our big players to play well and we need our pack to be robust like they were against London Scottish.
“We’ve been watching Bristol for nine months. They’ve got a strong drive and a good set-piece and players like Matthew Morgan and Dwayne Peel who can do something different.
“It will be a huge physical contest. We’re not overly concerned with previous fixtures. We’ve always wanted to get to this stage knowing the reward is the
Premiership. We know why we lost to them a few weeks ago and we know we can fix that.”
Pennell completes a back three which includes wingers Tom Biggs and the in-form Vuna, who has bagged seven tries in as many games since moving to Sixways.
Alex Grove and Ryan Mills keep their places in midfield next to stand-off Ryan Lamb and scrum-half JB Bruzulier.
In the forward pack, Val Rapava Ruskin lines up next to Argentina international Agustin Creevy and Nick Schonert in the front row, while James Percival and Jonathan Thomas occupy the second row.
Mike Williams starts in the back row and is set for his 50th Warriors appearance alongside skipper GJ van Velze and semi-final second leg hat-trick hero Sam Lewis.
Seventeen-year-old Jamie Shillcock, who made his debut in the last game, is on the bench for Warriors despite having to sit an exam on the day of the match.
Follow all of tomorrow night’s developments with our live blog at www.worcesterobserver.co.uk.