Pat Sanderson believes that Worcester Warriors are on the “eve of something special” after agreeing a new two-year contract extension with the club.
The 31-year-old captain will now be committed to Sixways until 2012, having arrived at the club for the start of their first ever top flight campaign in 2004, and Sanderson admitted that the decision to put pen to paper was amongst the easiest he has ever had to make.
A talismanic skipper known fondly by supporters as Captain Fantastic, has expressed his satisfaction with the direction Worcester are heading and the former England international is confident that he is about to be part of a bright future.
“It was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made,” admitted Sanderson, whose current deal was due to expire at the end of the forthcoming season.
“I can’t imagine playing my rugby anywhere else, it has been an amazing five years that I’ve had here and, for me personally, I feel that we are on the eve of something quite special. It is very important for me that I’m here when we see that journey through.
“I’ve been very lucky here, I’ve been tremendously well looked after and I think the club has taken me to heart.
“It’s nice to turn up to a place where you enjoy working and when it gets like that it doesn’t feel like work.”
There was plenty of optimism around Sixways yesterday afternoon during the Warriors’ annual pre-season press call.
The same could have been said exactly 12 months ago when there was talk of finishing in the top end of the Guinness Premiership table and Heinekein Cup qualification; ambitions that failed to materialise as Worcester finished in a disappointing 11th position.
However, both Sanderson and Worcester’s director of rugby, Mike Ruddock, were quick to stress just how much progress had been made since the club reported back for pre-season training.
“The backroom staff are doing a tremendous job, the facilities are fantastic and we’ve got a squad together that we believe is going to be really competitive,” added Sanderson.
“The manner in which we’ve trained this pre-season and the focus we’ve maintained indicates to us that we are going to be very strong. We’ll be quietly confident about it, we won’t talk about it too much but roll on September 6 (when Worcester travel to Northampton Saints), it’s going to exciting.”
“Willie (Walker, the fly-half signed permanently from Gloucester in May following a loan spell last season) settled in really quickly and he’s going to be pivotal for us in that position.
“I think one thing we have not done in previous years is started well, we’ve talked about it and this year it feels like we will.”
Ruddock echoed his captain’s sentiments and added: “Our summer has been good, pre-season has been excellent. The players have adapted well to the training regime and a lot have recorded personal best times and records in the fitness and conditioning areas.
“It has been excellent to see and it fills us with a lot of optimism for the season ahead.”
n Gloucester have released hooker Andy Titterrell, with back Matthew Watkins also leaving the club for Newport Gwent Dragons.
Both players were told several weeks ago they were free to find new clubs and have now parted company with the squad.
Head coach Bryan Redpath said: “They’re both great lads but I couldn’t, in all honesty, make any promises to them in terms of first team rugby.
“Therefore, we told them both that they were free to explore other options. MJ has obviously sorted himself out first but we’d like to wish them both well for the future.”
