WARRIORS are already reaping the benefits of having a full-time coaching team, according to on-song full-back Chris Pennell.

The former Worcester captain also revealed how he feels newly-appointed backs coach Shane Howarth is playing a big part in giving the Sixways side a cutting edge they have lacked in the past.

Under Richard Hill’s regime, part-time coaches were employed — such as backs coach Mathieu Rourre who jetted in once a month from his role with Biarritz to work with Warriors — and this led to a lack of cohesion and no clear message being delivered to the players.

“Without wanting to have any negatives towards previous regimes, I think having full-time coaches makes a massive difference and gives us consistency,” explained Pennell.

“As players, you’ve got set coaches to go to if you’ve got issues — you know exactly who to go to, whereas in years gone by it wasn’t always 100 per cent clear who you needed to raise issues with.

“Now it is very clear and structured, there are no grey areas and that makes life easier for us players.”

Pennell added: “Shane has been fantastic, a real breath of fresh air. If you look at Dean (Ryan) and Hoggy (head coach Carl Hogg), they are fairly serious, intense guys and I think Shane is a really good balance to that.

“However, he has certain things he expects from you and, as long as you’re delivering that, then there’s plenty of room for us to have fun.

“He’s got some great ideas that are right up there at the top end of the game and I think the difference he is making shows on the pitch. The exciting thing is that we are still so early in this journey.”

On Ryan quitting his job as a highly-regarded rugby analyst on Sky Sports to become director of rugby at Worcester, Pennell said: “I don’t think there is anyone who would have watched Dean on Sky and thought he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“It is different if someone is completely out of the game and has lost touch with it, but Dean was always involved in one aspect or another and it was his job to know what was going on at the highest level over the last few years.

“Dean doesn’t do things by halves and there was never any doubt he’d be right up there in terms of the top-level detail and that is certainly coming across in his coaching. I have no complaints and the level of coaching we are getting now is beyond anything I’ve experienced.”