WERNER Swanepoel could be set to make a dramatic comeback at Neath-Swansea next weekend.

Worcester Rugby Club's skipper has made significant prog-ress in his recovery from an Achilles injury and may yet play some part in the club's second pre-season friendly on Friday at The Gnoll.

Swanepoel has been struggling to overcome the injury suffered back in April and was expected to be out until September at the earliest.

"Werner has been training and although we've had to pull him back a little, there is a chance he could be involved in the Neath-Swansea game," said coach Andy Keast.

"He's worked very hard and he's comeback from little set backs on the way. We always thought that it would be the start of the season that he had as a realistic date. However, it would give him a real boost to get some action before that. It would certainly improve his match fitness.

"He's naturally enthusiastic and has been desperate to get more involved in training. He's been doing that over the last week so we are hopeful. But we will not rush him, it would be silly, after all the work he's done, to rush him now and see him break down again."

Worcester go into their first pre-season test today when they take on Stourbridge at Sixways (3pm) and Keast is already purring about the race for the fly half spot.

New recruit Tommy Hayes joins James Brown and Jon Higgins in the battle for number 10 and Keast admits it will be a tight call on who gets the vote.

"They offer us a number of options which is what you want as a coach," said the former Harlequins man.

"They've all looked very good in training so it's exciting for me because they are pushing one another very hard."