IN next to no time, Sam Betty has gone from being a relative unknown plying his trade in the Championship to one of the first names on Richard Hill’s Aviva Premiership teamsheet.

The hard-hitting flanker was plucked from Cornish Pirates at the end of July when Worcester Warriors’ back-row problems were exacerbated by the injury-enforced retirement of club stalwart Pat Sanderson.

When head coach Hill brought in Betty, the abrasive number six was seen as a squad player to help provide cover for one of the most attritional positions on the field.

However, a string of eye-catching performances, combined with injuries to back-rowers Neil Best, Kai Horstmann and Adam Balding, have seen 25-year-old Betty become an increasingly important figure for Warriors.

Hill explained: “Sam is very combative and that is superb. He is beginning to develop his attacking game.

“He came here known as a defensive player and is definitely worth his place in the side.

“When you pick the team, you put Sam in fairly quickly at the moment. That is all credit to him, he came here from Cornish Pirates and made that big step up. Now he is competing with the big boys and going very well.”

Horstmann and Best are nearing a return to fitness and Hill has also recruited Samoan international back-rower Ezra Taylor.

But Betty has already made quite an impression on the Sixways boss and will take some shifting from the Worcester number six jersey.

Betty gave good service to the Pirates after signing for the Cornish club from Truro in 2005.

He made his first start in Pirates colours in their inaugural match at Kenwyn during the 2005-06 season against Earth Titans.

Betty featured 29 times during last season’s Championship campaign for Pirates, cementing his reputation as a no-nonsense flanker.

His club reached the division’s play-off final before being beaten over two legs by Betty’s current employers.