THE familiar faces of best friend Wynand Olivier, Gerrit-Jan van Velze and Cooper Vuna greeted the arrival of Worcester Warriors’ new signing Dewald Potgieter.

The South African doesn’t yet have a mobile phone or a bank account in this country, but already feels settled into the Sixways culture.

“I played with Wynand for 10 years at the Blue Bulls in South Africa and he’s a very good friend of mine,” said Potgieter.

“He would have been the best man at my wedding had he not had club commitments.

“I watched GJ (van Velze) come through the ranks at the Bulls and played a lot of domestic competition rugby with him.

“I watched Cooper play in Japan a couple of times and I met him over there.

“There’s not a lot of foreign rugby players in Japan so we know each other well and mingled a bit.

“It is great to have them here and it was a comfort knowing there was a form of something recognisable to me when I arrived. That has helped me to get to know the culture."

The 28-year-old has just spent three years Japanese Top League side Yamaha Jubilo.

He is staying with Olivier but is planning to look for a place to live when his wife arrives next week.

“I am staying with Wynand but I will look to move out as soon as possible because he has just got married,” said Potgieter.

“I am enjoying the lifestyle and the people in the area.

“When you live in Japan, you learn how to ask for directions and order the food you want to eat but there’s not a lot of banter and conversing with people. However, I like to speak to people.

“I don’t yet have a mobile phone or a bank account in the UK but luckily Worcester is probably one of the most professional rugby environments I have been in. It feels like all that stuff is being taken care of by able people so the pressure is taken off."