Boss – Warriors set for Xmas cracker

Head Coach Richard Hill will give his Warriors time off over the Christmas period to be with their friends and family – but admits double helpings of turkey and too much festive indulgence is definitely not for his stars from Sixways.

Worcester will play the club’s festive league fixture against Moseley Rugby on Tuesday (December 28) after heavy snow saw the original date on Boxing Day postponed.

Ahead of the RFU Championship game, Hill will give his table toppers time to enjoy the celebrations – and there will be no Christmas Day and Boxing Day training.

However, he has reiterated to his entire playing squad that he expects them all back in top condition as the club prepares for a big year in 2011.

“I’m not going to be so cruel as to bring them in on Christmas Day – some coaches would, but maybe I am getting soft,” laughed Hill.

“We have trained very hard all this week and the team have been flat at it to get our preparation right. They will then get some time to do any shopping and see the families as that is important for them.

“We will keep a check on the whole squad during this period. They have all made so many gains, in terms of strength and conditioning and nutritional programmes with losing body fat, the last thing I want is to let them loose over Christmas and New Year.

“I don’t want them back here having lost the ground we have made up. They are in really good physical shape so we want to make sure we keep an eye on them and help them to top up the fitness over this period.”

The wintery weather has seen the Warriors spend most of this week indoors in preparation for the Moseley game, but Hill revealed the squad had certainly embraced the Indoor Centre regime.

“We’ve been indoors this week, but we are lucky that we have a superb indoor arena so we can train when other clubs can’t. We have access all day so we have been inside,” he added.

“The players can get a little stir crazy after a few days indoors – it is like a school playground, so we need to get them outside and in the fresh air when we can.

“But we can still do contact work and we have done as much as we can do. Space is limited but we have been able to get it quite lively with the three quarters training against the forwards lineout ball.

“I’m not sure the three quarters liked it too much – the forwards certainly did enjoy bullying the backs. One or two backs got in where it hurts and got punished. It was good to have some physical contact.

“We have worked hard and can now look forward to enjoying this time of year. On behalf of all the players and coaching staff, I would like to wish our fans a fantastic Christmas and we look forward to seeing them all against Moseley.”

Tickets remain on sale for the RFU Championship match between Warriors and Moseley. Call the Warriors Box Office on 01905 454183 for more information.


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