WORCESTER Warriors’ rugby operations director Corin Palmer has left his role with the Sixways club.

The former Royal Marines officer has been away from the club on gardening leave for some time and it has now been confirmed he has departed after less than 18 months in the role.

Palmer was recruited from Premiership Rugby where he had been head of academies and development with a remit of helping to take the day-to-day administration workload off then-head coach Richard Hill.

A club statement said: “Worcester Warriors can confirm that rugby operations director Corin Palmer has decided to leave the club. Following the appointment of Dean Ryan as director of rugby, the requirements of the role fundamentally changed.

“With the handover now complete, Corin has decided the time is right for him to move on and seek a fresh challenge.”

Warriors chief executive Charles Cameron added: “In his time at Worcester Warriors, Corin has been a great support to the club and was responsible for the smooth running of the rugby department.

“We thank Corin for all his hard work during his time at Sixways and wish him well for the future.”

In his profile on the Warriors website, Palmer’s remit was said to include performance management, academy and player development, recruitment, financial management, administration, culture, discipline and player welfare.

However, with Ryan coming in as director of rugby and the recent recruitment of Nick Johnston as high performance director, Palmer’s role has now become obsolete.

This season, Palmer had been overseeing proceedings on the touchline during matches, but became conspicuous by his absence from that role in recent weeks.

Sections of the club’s fanbase had also been critical of Palmer’s success rate in one of the key areas of his role — player recruitment — with a lot of blame being directed his way for assembling the current squad that is struggling at the foot of the Premiership.

Meanwhile, Warriors’ back-row crisis could be set to worsen with the news Richard de Carpentier has been cited for an alleged ‘eye gouge’ on Northampton Saints’ Callum Clark.

The former Leicester Tigers forward has been charged with ‘making contact with the eyes/eye area of an opponent’ following Worcester’s 33-10 home Premiership defeat at Sixways on Saturday.

De Carpentier will now appear at an Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing at the Coventry Holiday Inn tonight (8pm).

If found guilty, de Carpentier could face a long spell on the sidelines as the lower end sanction for such a serious offence is up to a 12-week ban.

Ryan is already down to the bare bones in the back row with Jake Abbott, Semisi Taulava and Leo Senatore all out injured.