Worcester boss Mike Ruddock has revealed how he is planning for a summer of stability at Warriors and not radical change this year.
After seeing a number of players joining the Sixways Stadium club in the recent, Ruddock admits he is pleased with how his squad is shaping up.
Many of the home-grown talent produced at Warriors have committed their futures to the Sixways Stadium club in recent weeks.
Ruddock, who tonight takes his team to Gloucester, admits that is just as crucial as any new signings.
“I think our group focus at the moment is for stability,” said Ruddock. “We’ve had two years of huge change, starting with myself coming in a couple of years ago, and then we’ve had a few other people come into the club – Sam Tuitupou, Chris Latham, Rico Gear”.
“We’ve had a lot of young players emerging as well. Miles Benjamin burst onto the scene last year, Matt Mullan has made the England Saxons squad this year and Graham Kitchener has been in the England Under 20s. We’ve also seen the emergence of people like Alex Grove.
“We think that over the two years, although we’re disappointed with our results overall, the two years have been productive in building the sort of team and squad that we want.
“I think the key now is not to change again, but instead to try and gain some stability. That will be the big thing I’ll be looking for.”
However, the Director of Rugby has not ruled out any summer signings and admits he does expect to see some fresh faces.
“Yes, there may be a few players arriving, but at the moment that’s still a little bit up in the air.
“The main thing is that 99 per cent of our squad will be here, we’ve retained our key players and rising stars.
“A number of clubs have been chasing people like James Collins and Alex Grove, who was in the shop window after his Man of the Match performance against Wasps.
“So we’ve retained those sorts of guys, and I think that’s really important for the fans to know.
“Those guys like what we’re doing, they like the ambitions of the club and they want to be part of it.”