ONE OF the men responsible for guiding Chris Pennell through Worcester Warriors’ academy believes his international debut was long overdue.
The full back made his first appearance for England on Saturday as he came off to bench to play out the remaining minute of Stuart Lancaster’s side’s 20-15 defeat to New Zealand.
Former Warriors academy assistant manager Gary Meechan told the Observer it was a proud moment to see a player he first saw playing for Old Swinford Hospital School as an 15-year-old run out in an England jersey.
But Meechan who spent 12 years in the club’s academy before leaving last summer, insisted he always knew Pennell would achieve his dream of playing for his country despite a succession of injury set backs in his career.
“You can use all the superlatives you want, but from my point of view it was long overdue and well deserved,” he said.
“I always believed he had it in him to play at that level, but it was just about getting other people to recognise it.
“Even as 15-year-old he was exactly the same as he is now. He has always been very single minded and focuses toward being as good as he can get and from my point of view he was willing to listen, which is exactly what you want as a coach.”
Meechan said he was unsure whether a season in the Championship would affect the 27-year-old’s chances of remaining in the England fold. But he was convinced a person of his calibre deserves to be apart of the squad as they look ahead to next year’s World Cup.
“Now we will find out whether Lancaster has the balls to select Pennell,” Meechan added.
“The only way the England team will grow is to introduce people like Pennell. He will bring a professionalism and a character which will drive players to be better because he will make sure he will be better than them and that is what the England team should be about.”
