ON the surface nothing has chan-ged for Bruce Fenley, he is Wor-cester's regular scrum-half, he captains the side and Worcester keep on winning.

But during the last six months his life has changed dramatically and he is now thriving on new- found space which has appeared in his life rather than on the field.

At the end of last season Fenley and the rest of the club were at a low ebb.

He was in and out of the side following a neck injury at Leeds and the club's promising promotion charge fizzled out to nothing.

"My injury against Leeds set me back a bit and such is the competition in a professional squad I found it difficult to lever myself back in," he said.

"Then at the end of the season promotion slipped out of our grasp so it wasn't the best of times."

The 31-year-old decided it was time for action, time for a new approach, and resigned from his role as captain and stepped up his work commitment.

He now works up to two days a week as a commercial chartered surveyor and has also just celebrated the birth of his second child Ewan.

"It gets me away from the rugby scene and thinking of something completely different, so I'm refreshed and ready for training," he added.

"I'm finding it works well for me and it's important to stay in touch with my job as rugby players are only ever one injury away from the end of their careers.

"Rugby is always the first priority but now I don't have the responsibility of being club captain.

Representative

"But I'm the players representative for the Professional Rugby Players Association, so still do a bit of work in the area of player welfare, it's just a slightly lower profile job."

And Fenley is determined to remain at the heart of Worcester's squad as they strive for the top-flight.

"As you get older the important thing is your fitness, but I came top of the bleep test and as long as my legs and lungs still keep going I can provide some experience to benefit the squad," he said. "I want to carry on playing as long as I can."