George Angell clearly likes a challenge.

Even though Old Patesians had lost all five of their South West Premier games this season, conceding well over 250 points, he jumped at the chance to take over the captaincy of the club.

That was last week and Angell, a back row, said: “It was a no-brainer.”

Angell has taken over from hooker Chris Dean, who has stood down for personal reasons which meant he could no longer commit the time required to be captain, although he remains very much involved as a player.

Angell was the club’s co-vice-captain with second row Josh Stevens – although Stevens is now out for the season with a broken leg – and said: “Chris had rung me to say he had stepped down and then Craig Jones [head coach] called to see if I’d like to take on the job.

“I said ‘yes’ straight away.”

Angell came through the junior set-up at Old Pats and was part of the leadership group last season as the club stormed to the South West One East title.

“It was always something that I hoped I could do at some stage,” he said. “It was always something that I felt I could do.”

Angell is under no illusions about the size of the task confronting the Pats – they lost 34-20 at last season’s South West One West champions Drybrook on Saturday and have only one point to show for their efforts this season.

“It’s not been easy at all,” Angell admitted, “it’s been a tough start. We’ve under-performed at key times in games. If rugby lasted 40 minutes we’d be near the top of the league.

“We start really well but we can’t finish games. The boys are giving their all and training is good but some of the scorelines don’t reflect how the games have gone.”

And Angell was encouraged by what he saw at Drybrook.

“That was a massive improvement,” he said. “We gave away two soft tries but that’s better than the three or four that we’ve been giving away.

“Before the game we said that there were still 105 points that we could win so the season is nowhere near being decided. We’re nowhere near panic stage although we do need to start winning soon.”

The Pats are without a game this weekend – Angell celebrates his 28th birthday on Thursday so may consider that good timing! – and host Exeter University, who finished just behind Drybrook last season, a week on Saturday.

They are mid-table after winning three of their opening six games and Angell is expecting a tough challenge from the students, although it’s one he believes the Pats can overcome.

His role will be central to that of course.

He has filled in as captain in the past but now he is the official leader, he has added responsibility so what sort of skipper is he?

“Emotionally charged,” he said. “I’m quite an emotional captain. Chris was very, very good, very level-headed. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I don’t hide how I’m feeling.”

And Angell believes that the club can still make an impact in South West Premier.

“It’s a different level to the one we’ve been playing in but we are competing even though the scores don’t reflect that.

“We’ve got to keep going. We’ll give it a go and I’m confident we’ve got enough to compete in the league, we’ve just got to go out and prove it.”