DISCUSSION POINTS

The Warriors finished 14 points clear of the drop zone last season – with seven wins, they were on a par with Harlequins – but, with the heavily-backed Bristol entering the fray, securing Premiership safety is priority number one.

They’ve been shrewd in their recruitment over the summer, picking up Francois Venter, who made more clean breaks than any other centre in the Pro14 last term, from the Cheetahs and the gifted

Ashley Beck from the Ospreys to duke it out with Ben Te’o.

There is also underrated talent lurking elsewhere. Openside Sam Lewis is being looked at by Eddie Jones while Duncan Weir offers experience at fly-half, but they will miss the leadership Donncha O’Callaghan and go-forward

Dave Denton gave them.

DoR Alan Solomons has tasked new coaches Rory Duncan (from Cheetahs) and Neil Doak (Ulster) with getting a new-look squad fit and firing as they will need bags of fight to keep Worcester competitive.