Worcester Warriors and Tonga international hooker Aleki Lutui has joined the coaching team at Midlands Two West South club Kidderminster Carolians.

The 33-year-old, who won his 40th cap in the victory over France in the Rugby World Cup in Wellington in October, is keen to obtain his Level Three coaching award and is helping out Kidderminster on a part-time basis.

Lutui, a former policeman, is developing his coaching skills by working alongside Kidderminster’s head coach Bryan Smallman and director of rugby Phil Knowles with sessions at their Marlpool Lane headquarters as and when his commitments with the Aviva Premiership club permit.

“Aleki has agreed to help Kidderminster on a purely amateur basis and he has had a galvanising effect on training numbers and morale at this community club,” said Ian Bletcher, the RFU Coach and Player Development Officer for the Midlands West region.

“He has been extremely humble and willing to share his considerable expertise with the players and coaching staff and the enthusiasm within the coaching team has been really positive.

“It underlines how the elite game can still have considerable effect on the rest and I would not be surprised to see many more Kidderminster members attending Worcester matches to watch their new coach.

“Tim Nicholls of the Rugby Players’ Association has been the driving force behind this and encouraging elite players to gain coaching experience in local clubs in preparation for doing their coaching awards, which many professional players now value highly.

“The demands of professional rugby are, of course, time-consuming and Kidderminster have been very careful to work at not over-loading Aleki and also using the expertise of their coaching staff to mentor and guide his delivery with structured feedback.”

Lutui’s Worcester team-mate Chris Fortey is supporting Stourbridge while Ollie Frost helps at Droitwich.