WHEN Ed Shervington joined Worcester Warr-iors having been released by the Ospreys in the summer of 2010, he admitted viewing the move as a stop-gap bef-ore returning to Wales at the first opportunity.

Initially signed as third-choice hooker behind Aleki Lutui and Chris Fortey, a series of barnstorming displays in the Championship saw the Newport-born front-row-er claim the Warriors number two jersey as his own.

Despite his early reservations about life in England, the Welshman signed a new one-year contract at the start of 2011 and has recently done the same again to commit himself to the Sixways club until the end of next term.

Although still a fiercely proud Welshman, Sherv-ington has taken Worc-ester to his heart and admits he is loving life at Warriors.

The 26-year-old said: “It was not nice to have to leave the Ospreys after three years there, but I think I needed it and coming here has gone well for me.

“I definitely needed a fresh challenge and Ospreys have obviously got Richard Hibbard and Huw Bennett there, who are both international hookers, so however well I played when I got my chance, I was never going to get a look in. Because they were internationals, they’d pick them in front of me, so I just needed to get away and start from scratch. I’ve done that here at Worcester.

“Before I signed my new contract recently, I had a lot of interest from back over the border, but I am enjoying my rugby here.”

He added: “In the Premiership itself, the intensity of the game is completely different to in Wales – probably because of the relegation factor – but I’m really enjoying that and Worcester was the best place to stay.

“I think playing week in, week out at Worcester in the Premiership matches, which are the pressure games, has brought me on a lot as a player.

“I only played in about 10 Heineken Cup games in three years at Ospreys as I was just given Magners League matches. They use the Magners League — or RaboDirect Pro12 as it is now – for the Heineken Cup, just like we use the LV= Cup for the Premiership, but that is a bit silly really because the Pro12 is their main league.”

Despite having no regrets at leaving Wales to ply his trade, Sherv-ington is still in regular contact with his former Ospreys team-mates, which adds spice to tomorrow’s LV= Cup clash between the sides.

He said: “I have mixed feelings about the game. I’d rather be playing against a full-strength Ospreys side, but I don’t think they’ll be sending one down because all of their internationals are out.

“It will be good to play against a few of my mates and there’s sure to be a bit of banter flying around. I’ve had a few texts in the last few weeks building up to it.

“I was there for three years and have a couple of really close mates there, like Cai Griffiths, who will be playing on the loosehead, and a couple of the back row guys too.”