Rugby Union
Warriors captaincy still up for grabs

Buy photos » Chris Pennell faces a battle to retain the Worcester Warriors captaincy. Picture by Ian Smith.

HEAD coach Richard Hill will decide who will skipper Worcester Warriors next season once he has had chance to cast his eye over his new-look squad later this month.

Chris Pennell faces a battle to hang onto the captaincy with Hill having yet to decide whether to stick with the full back as skipper or opt for a new face.

The Warriors boss will assess his options over the coming weeks with some of the squad set to return to training on Monday.

Since replacing Warriors legend Pat Sanderson as captain in July 2010, Pennell has been blighted by injury as he went on to miss the majority of Worcester's successful promotion back to the Aviva Premiership.

Hill stuck by his decision to keep the 25-year-old in the role, but soon opted to shift the responsibility to the more experienced heads of Shaun Perry and Kai Horstmann towards the back end of last season.

"Because of his injury record Chris hasn't had the opportunity to establish himself in that role," Hill said.

"I think it puts a lot of pressure on a player when he has had injuries to make him captain. He feels he has got to play when he is perhaps not fully fit, so I don't know whether that is the right thing to do."

The academy graduate also sat out Worcester's final Premiership clash of the campaign away to Northampton Saints after going under the knife to remove a metal plate in his ankle.

"Chris would dearly love to be one of the candidates to be captain next year, but I shall look at the whole captaincy situation over the summer," Hill added.

"I would like to see how the squad gels and who looks to really command the group, so I might make a decision part way through the summer."

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