Chris Pennell: Worcester back is pleased clubs are taking their time over return
- Published
Chris Pennell has spent his entire career at Worcester Warriors
Worcester full-back Chris Pennell says he is pleased rugby union is taking time to decide when to resume playing.
Premiership sides were given the go-ahead to start non-contact, socially-distanced training on Tuesday.
The coronavirus outbreak saw the league postponed in mid-March, with no date set for a restart.
Pennell, 33, says all players, but forwards in particular, will need time to re-condition themselves after almost three months away from training.
"I could probably be ready to go an awful lot sooner than most because my level of contact isn't as great," the once-capped England back told BBC Radio 4.
"But when you look at positions, especially in the front row, how specific that level of conditioning has to be to manage with the load of a scrum for example, and try and get through 80 minutes of rugby.
"I think it's going to be a case of it needs to take as long as it needs to take for those guys to be at the lowest level of risk of injury, because if things go wrong in those positions, they can go drastically wrong.
"The positive thing from my perspective, and hearing from other people, is that the rugby clubs are taking their time with this. They want to get it right, so time will tell but let's make sure that the guys are looked after for a safe return."
Sides in the Premeirship and Championship can resume training under stage one of the Government's return to play protocols, provided players undertake education on Covid-19 and adhere to strict health and safety measures.
Premier League football clubs have since moved on to stage two, which allows contact training in larger groups, with stage three the return of matches behind closed doors.
Pennell, who has type 1 diabetes, says he is confident in his club's ability to ensure all health and safety measures will be put in place.
"I'm happy to go back to training as long as all the adherence is met by the clubs," he added.
"I must say how Worcester Warriors have been and in my experience, I'm very confident that when we're given the green light from the rugby clubs, I'll be happy to return to training."