A RETURN to the past will see Worcester’s leading amateur rugby club revert to their original name for the new season.

The Midlands One West outfit will be known as Worcester Rugby Club after dropping Wanderers from their handle.

Director of rugby Niall Crawford insists the club’s ethos will remain the same when players report back for pre-season training on Tuesday at Westons Fields at 7pm.

“Worcester Rugby Club have always played rugby but Wanderers was set up as a necessity for us to register for league rugby,” explained Crawford.

“We have a new clubhouse and are operating on the Westons site, incorporating Wanderers, with the same ethos and values as before.

“We have always kept our Three Pears badge while Warriors wanted their own emblem a few years ago after they became professional.

“We will be rebranding as Worcester Rugby Club.

“We still share facilities with Warriors but we now have eight changing rooms and four full-sized pitches.

“While we have a good relationship with Warriors it does not stretch as far as sharing players.

“We also have the University of Worcester playing on the site which helps them to have a base to call their home.”

Crawford took over the top role at Worcester last season but has been coaching at the club for more than 10 years.

He admitted injuries to key players had left the club battling for their league status at the turn of the year.

“It was a challenge because we had a lot of building work going on and had to play our first six games away from home,” said Crawford.

“A few significant injuries during the season put pressure on our squad size so we had a few challenges on and off the pitch.

“We were in the relegation zone over Christmas but managed to put together some good results and climb up the table.”

Experienced full-back Paul Burton needs a shoulder operation after damaging his collarbone and Crawford believes the side will miss his influence and calmness on the field.

He added: “Most squads are shrinking and a new RFU regulation has come in which bans payments to players by clubs at level six so that will be interesting.

“The move has been voted in by the RFU and it’s their attempt to make the community game a bit fairer and to stop clubs from overstretching their means.

“Amateur rugby has always historically been played by players getting boot money at level six and playing for the love of the game and their passion for the sport.

“We have a totally amateur set-up at Worcester and don’t pay out money with players paying membership fees to the club.

“It’s an exciting time for us because we have colts coming through and the mixed ability team will be feeding players into our other senior teams.”

Richard Ralph will remain as Worcester’s club captain with Jon Perks continuing as the coach development officer.

Worcester will also be training on Thursdays at 7pm as they prepare for a friendly at Droitwich on August 19 and a home warm-up match with Cheltenham Tigers on August 24.