SIXWAYS star Chris Pennell will skipper Worcester Warriors on Sunday (2.40pm) as his side looks to kick their Greene King IPA Championship campaign off with a victory over Bristol at Ashton Gate.
The full back, who won his first England cap this summer, has been named as part of a talented back-line, which includes new signings Tom Biggs and Sam Smith on the wings.
Further summer recruits Dan Bower, Dan George and Nick Schonert will form a new-look front row, while Dan Sanderson will start in the second row and Matt Cox will wear the number eight jersey.
Director of rugby Dean Ryan, who has selected a bench featuring youngsters Tiff Eden and Christian Scotland-Williamson, said getting off to a flying start was not essential to his side’s efforts to secure an immediate return to the Aviva Premiership.
But he admitted his players were determined to get their first win on the board in the opening weekend and he believed their pre-season clashes against Ospreys, Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs had left them in good shape ahead of their trip to Bristol.
“Success in the Championship is about being successful in the play-offs but both us and Bristol will want to get off to a great start on Sunday,” Ryan said.
“We’d be a lot happier if we could get a win in the back pocket going into Monday morning that’s for sure.”
“But we’re going to get into this Championship season and enjoy it. We will challenge ourselves to get better in it and to really understanding what the Championship is and hopefully everything leads to us being successful.
“We’re going to have to go to these places (like Ashton Gate) and be at our best. If we are we deserve to win and come out of it, but if not we’ll get taught a lesson and over these nine months I am sure that will happen.”
Warriors’ side to face Bristol: Pennell (C), Smith, Grove, Symons, Biggs, Mieres, Arr, Bower, George, Schonert, Percival (VC), Sanderson, Williams, Betty, Cox
Replacements: Annett, Daniels, Scotland-Williamson, de Carpentier, Mulchrone, Eden, Stelling
Log onto www.worcesterobserver.co.uk from 2.15pm on Sunday to follow live updates from the game at Ashton Gate with our rugby reporter, Geoff Berkeley.