Mike Ruddock has hailed the positive attitude and work ethic in the Warriors camp during pre-season as the best he has ever encountered in his rugby career.
Director of Rugby Ruddock and his backroom team have been back and working with the Warriors squad for three weeks as the countdown to the new Guinness Premiership season gathers pace.
Ruddock has welcomed new players Ben Jones, Matthew Jones and Hal Luscombe into the dressing room and has been delighted with the way they have settled in so quickly. Fellow new signing Chris Latham arrives early next month.
And he admitted the battle for first team places was already heating up ahead of the pre-season schedule that kicks off at the Middlesex Sevens on Saturday, August 16 at Twickenham.
“The attitude has been tremendous and the commitment to the training programme is there for all to see, the work ethic has been really fantastic and as good as I have ever seen during my time in rugby,” said Ruddock.
“The environment now is pushing forward and hopefully we will see the benefits in this in our performances, everyone wants a spot in the team and the race for jerseys has begun.
“We thing we are looking closely at this season is the culture at the club,” he added.
“We went through tough times and good times last year and we have to learn from both those situations, that was the big message on day one back in training.
“The players have been working closely with Trent Hotton and Leading Teams during pre-season to really examine our culture in more detail. We want to look at our behaviour both in the club and away from Sixways Stadium.
“The players understand they must all stand up and take responsibility, that has really been evident in training so far. They all want an excellence in training and in our attitude to make sure we take our performances to the next level this season.”
One member of the coaching staff who has been absent from Sixways in recent weeks is Head Coach Clive Griffiths who is at the World Student Rugby League Championships in Australia.
But Ruddock revealed his number two was still working hard ahead of the Warriors season.
“With Chris Latham arriving on August 10 it’s been really useful that Clive has been able to meet up with him already and bring him up to speed.
“Clive tells me that Chris is rehabilitating well after his injury and is extremely motivated to show the Warriors faithful the quality play that has earned him his worldwide reputation.
“He has also met up with Queensland Reds and the information he would have got from them will be crucial to our preparartion work.
“There had been some speculation that Clive was actually out in Australia recruiting players but that is not the case.
“When he joined Warriors last year he did so without a summer break and at that time he asked for a few weeks off during pre-season this year so he could support his son’s efforts in Australia.
“Given his big sacrifice last year I was more than happy to give him a couple of weeks out in the early stages of our pre-season. However, if he does spot some emerging talent then he will be letting me know.”