FULL back Chris Pennell has urged his teammates to step up and ‘break the cycle’ of their poor away form when they travel to Newcastle Falcons next Friday night.
The England international, who has featured in 12 of Warriors’ matches this campaign, is frustrated Worcester have lost all ten of their Aviva Premiership games on the road, which he puts down to a lapse in concentration.
But now the club have secured their Premiership status, after a 25-19 win over play-off chasing Bath at Sixways on Saturday, the Worcester-born full back has called on his teammates to focus on claiming their first away win of the campaign, when they travel to Kingston Park next week.
“On reflection, if we had come away from the Sale game with nothing it would have been pretty devastating. We still feel we were more than capable of winning that game so it’s just very frustrating,” said Pennell.
“We’ve had several performances like that away from home this season, so we’ve got to break that cycle. We have one more opportunity away from home (Newcastle Falcons) to break that habit.
“I wish I could my finger on exactly why results have got away from us. When we analyse the games, especially the Sale match, it’s our mistakes that cost us. It’s when we drift away from our system or have a lapse in concentration.
“Ultimately, tries against us have been down to us not following our script. It’s unfortunate things have played out this year the way they have, but it is what it is.
“As a full back you can sometimes see what’s going on in front of you. I can see the guys working incredibly hard by hitting the guys they need to hit and being where they need to be. It looks comfortable from the back, but it’s that one little lapse that costs us.
“That’s the difference between where we are and where we want to be. The pressure is different now. We just need to focus and keep winning to put down a marker on what our intentions are going forward.
“I certainly don’t want to be in this position again going forward,” he added.