Where are they now? The last Worcester team before the collapse
Tuesday morning was a sharp reminder of the pitfalls of Gallagher Premiership rugby, Bath announcing an hour before they unveiled Finn Russell as a new signing for 2023/24 that their recent recruit, Billy Searle of Worcester, had exited the club just five days before Christmas.
It was the summer of 2020 when the ex-Wasps and Bristol out-half arrived at Sixways with high hopes of achievement at Worcester only to find himself unemployed two years later when the financially stricken club went to the wall.
The October 5 insolvency court liquidation of the company that held the club’s player contracts was the final straw, Judge Nicholas Briggs making an order winding up WRFC Players Ltd eleven days after Worcester had played their last Premiership match.
Twelve-and-a-half weeks on from that 39-5 September 24 win over Newcastle, RugbyPass has investigated what has since happened to the matchday 23 that fielded against the Falcons and how they have fared in the bottleneck player recruitment market.
Seven of that Worcester 23 are currently contracted to Premiership clubs, six are unattached free agents, five have moved into the URC, three are playing in the English Championship, while one has gone to Japan and another to the Top 14:
Nick Easter is on the move two steps down the English pyramid eight weeks after the painful financial collapse of Worcester. #GallagherPrem https://t.co/ACU1II1Ijs
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 3, 2022
15. Jamie Shillcock
It was October 21 when the 25-year-old full-back was snapped up by Bath as short-term injury cover. He made just a single appearance, starting against Leicester in the November 11 Premiership win at The Rec but he exited the club 16 days later for a contract in Japan with the Mitsubishi Dynaboars, for whom he debuted last weekend off the bench versus Black Rams Tokyo.
14. Alex Hearle
The 24-year-old winger was part of a three-player signing from Worcester unveiled by Gloucester on October 17. He has since made three Premiership appearances off the bench before starting both the Kingsholm club’s games in the Heineken Champions Cup. The 20-year-old centre Seb Atkinson, one of the other players who made the switch with Hearle to Gloucester, has featured in all three of the club’s December games, while 19-year-old hooker Finn Theobald-Thomas has played in the Prem Cup.
13. Ollie Lawrence
It was October 2 when Worcester director of rugby Steve Diamond tweeted that Lawrence was one of four players joining Bath on loan with immediate effect, a switch that became permanent on an unspecified length contract a week later after the out-of-favour England centre had starred on his debut versus Gloucester. The 23-year-old has so far made eight Bath appearances, quickly becoming a fan favourite at The Rec.
12. Francois Venter
The 31-year-old former Springboks centre – who signed for Worcester in 2018 – was unveiled as a Sharks signing on October 16 and he has since fitted in swiftly, starting five matches for the Durban-based URC franchise in the league and in the Heineken Champions Cup.
11. Duhan van der Merwe
The 27-year-old was one of the first ex-Worcester players to secure his future as the 2021 Lions tour pick committed to rejoining Edinburgh just hours after becoming a free agent with the October 5 insolvency court decision. He had since played four times for the Scottish URC club in the league and Europe while starting all four Scotland games in the recent Autumn Nations Series.
10. Billy Searle
It was 16 days after Worcester players all became free agents in early October that the 26-year-old our-half was signed as injury cover by Bath along with full-back Shillcock. He scored five points on his debut but that November 5 Premiership win at Newcastle proved to be his only appearance for the club as he was injured in that match and was released by Bath on Tuesday.
9. Gareth Simpson
Having started all three Worcester matches this season before their collapse, the scrum-half kept his eye in with a short stint at Saracens as injury cover for Aled Davies. He played two Premiership games in early November before linking up with the Barbarians for their three games versus top-flight English clubs. Now a free agent again, there is speculation he will become a permanent Saracens signing for the 2023/24 season.
1. Murray McCallum
Capped by Scotland in 2018, the 26-year-old was another Warriors player who pitched up for the Barbarians during their November club tour in England. The loosehead is now back to being a free agent and looking to sort out a club for 2023.
"Why are you taking the piss? The people here are waiting to get paid and wondering if they’ve got a job next week"
3-cap Scotland prop @m4gnet_ gives @JLyall93 ??? an inside view of the heartbreaking collapse of Worcester & finding himself clubless at 26.https://t.co/BWujQTppmd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 13, 2022
2. Curtis Langdon
The 2021 England international was only a summer 2022 recruit at Worcester, Diamond going back to his old club Sale to sign the hooker. However, the 25-year-old’s Warriors career lasted just three games but he quickly organised work elsewhere, joining Perpignan on October 19 and going on to play four games so far for the French club in the Top 14 and Europe.
3. Jay Tyack
It was October 28 when word broke that the 26-year-old tighthead had been signed by Bristol, as he had been named on their bench for that weekend’s Premiership game at Northampton. He has so far made six appearances for the Bears, including two in the Challenge Cup.
4. Joe Batley
It only took the lock a day after he became a free agent to sort out a deal elsewhere, re-joining Bristol on October 6, the club he had previously played for during the Pat Lam era before arriving at Sixways via Leicester and Hartpury. The 26-year-old has been a starter in all of his seven Premiership and Challenge Cup games back at the Ashton Gate club.
5. Andrew Kitchener
It was October 11 when Saracens snapped up the 26-year-old lock on a short-term deal along with Worcester winger Tom Howe. He has since made three Premiership appearances for the Londoners, including a November start versus Northampton.
6. Fergus Lee-Warner
The 28-year-old Australian was another of Diamond’s summer signings for the 2022/23 season, arriving from Western Force only to soon find himself out of work. That idleness didn’t last long as the lock/back-rower was one of the four players quickly signed by Bath on an injury-dispensation loan at the start of October. That deal has since been made permanent for the remainder of the 2022/23 season and he so far has made seven appearances for his new club.
7. Cameron Neild
Just like hooker Langdon, the 28-year-old back-rower was a summer signing from Sale, Diamond’s old club, where he had spent eight seasons. Another who started all three Worcester games before they folded, Neild was named as a new Glasgow signing on November 15 and he made his debut the other week versus Bath in the Challenge Cup.
8. Tom Dodd
The 25-year-old was another forward to quickly organise his post-Worcester future as he was unveiled as a new signing by Coventry, the English Championship club, on October 13, eight days after becoming a free agent.
"It’s ended up like the Titanic, sadly…"
– Steve Diamond has reacted to what happened to Worcester at court on Wednesday. #GallagherPremhttps://t.co/NXfJBqikyJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 5, 2022
Replacements:
16. Hame Faiva
The 28-year-old Italian international hooker was another of Diamond’s high-profile summer signings, the former Auckland Blues player joining Worcester from Benetton. His Warriors career amounted to just 86 minutes, though, and he remains a free agent.
17. Kai Owen
The 23-year-old loosehead previously played in the Championship for Leeds and Coventry and he quickly enlisted for second-tier duty when becoming an October 7 Doncaster signing for the remainder of 2022/23.
18. Jack Owlett
It was 2021 when the 27-year-old swapped Wasps for Worcester and having yet to secure his future, he has been one of the most vocal players in recent weeks in publicising the Warriors’ plight as the club’s RPA representative. It was November 24 when he addressed a Government select committee, stating: “I hope today is the first step in the much-needed reform of the governance of rugby.”
19. Graham Kitchener
The 33-year-old older brother of fellow forward Andrew, Graham is still a free agent despite showing what he has to offer when touring England last month with the Barbarians.
20. Matt Kvesic
The former England international opted to join Zebre Parma, the Italian-based URC franchise, on November 16 for the remainder of this season. The 30-year-old has gone on to play four times so far for his new team.
21. Will Chudley
The seasoned 34-year-old scrum-half joined Worcester from Bath on a two-year deal in 2021. It was seven days after the Warriors players were all made free agents at the October 5 insolvency court that he was named as a new Coventry signing for the 2022/23 Championship.
22. Oli Morris
The Irish-qualified 23-year-old midfielder, who made a try-scoring debut for Worcester in Russia in November 2019, was snapped up by Munster on October 25 until the end of this season. He is still waiting to make a debut, however.
23. Noah Heward
The 22-year-old former England age-grade player saw his back three versatility come in handy as Bristol snapped him up on October 31 on a two-year deal.
- Some big names who didn’t feature in the last match played by Worcester were Fin Smith and Rory Sutherland. The young out-half has since moved to Northampton, taking over from the now-departed Dan Biggar, while 2021 Lions prop Sutherland was snapped up by Ulster in the URC.
Comments on RugbyPass
Hold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
40 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
1 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
5 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
40 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
40 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to commentsBut here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.
40 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
40 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to commentsThanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause
40 Go to comments