PLAYERS returning to Worcester Warriors after international duty lift the training standards “through the roof”, according to long-serving full-back Chris Pennell.

Pennell noticed the intensity which Ben Te’o brought back to Sixways after his spell with England in their title-winning Six Nations campaign.

And the 30-year-old expects further improvement from Te’o who will be heading to New Zealand later this month with the British and Irish Lions.

“The guys disappear off to international camps and when they come back their standards have gone through the roof,” said Pennell, who has made 179 first-team appearances for Worcester.

“Not only does their game improve but it’s up to us, as players, to raise ourselves to meet their new standards.

“Thinking back to when former player Alex Grove was involved with Scotland, he came back and his game had picked up to a different level I hadn’t seen from him before.

“As a youngster, I was thinking I needed to push on and get better.

“When Benny (Te’o) came back from such a successful environment with England he added things to our training.

"Some of the young boys were looking at Benny to set the standards in our training.”

Grove won three international caps for Scotland in 2009 and made 152 appearances in 10 years at Sixways before leaving Worcester at the end of last season.

He  made a guest appearance for Warriors last week as they lifted the London Floodlit Sevens title at Rosslyn Park.

Worcester-born Pennell still harbours his own international hope with England.

However, the  full-back isn’t in the thoughts of Englandhead coach Eddie Jones at the moment.

Pennell was the first Worcester back to be selected by England when he made a late substitute appearance in the first Test against New Zealand at Auckland in June 2014.

Warriors trio Will Spencer, Ryan Mills and Perry Humphreys are among 20 players called up this week to an England training camp.

Lock Spencer had been mooted as a possible candidate for England’s summer tour to Argentina but he wasn’t named in the party.

However, prop Nick Schonert, who missed the end of the season after a finger operation, is on the reserve list.

Spencer said: “To be able play for my country one day would be a tremendous honour but I am really happy to be fit and playing.

“I wanted to finish the season as well as I could for Worcester.

“In the future if it did lead to anything else that would be brilliant.

“I have not played a lot of rugby over the past two years and I just want to keep playing and improving and doing my best job for Worcester.”