CHARLIE Mulchrone believes today’s derby with Wasps will be a chance for Worcester Warriors to see how far they’ve come this summer (3pm).

Scrum-half Mulchrone admits the warm-up game will be a perfect opportunity for the new-look squad to become a team.

He said: “The game will be about trying to get everyone integrated and fine-tune any system changes so when the season starts we can hit the ground running.

“Wasps are a great team to play. They have an excellent back-line and it will be a fantastic game I’m sure.”

Mulchrone was a stand-out performer for Warriors last season but missed the side’s Championship play-off final victory over Bristol after breaking his foot.

The former Rotherham skipper made his comeback in this month’s clash with the Barbarians, which Warriors lost 43- 35, and admits he is pleased to be back in action.

Mulchrone will battling it out for the number nine jersey Jonny Arr, Luke Baldwin and Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier.

Mulchrone said: “It was a real low point in my career to miss those last few games of the season but I’m delighted with how it turned out for us.”

With Rugby World Cup fever sweeping across the nation a number of learners from Warriors’ HITZ programme were chosen to watch the South African rugby team training at Birmingham University.

The 2007 world champions were put through their paces ahead of their Pool B clash with Samoa at Villa Park.

The learners were given a chance to meet their heroes, get autographs and have their pictures taken with Springbok legends such as Bryan Habana and Victor Matfield.Warriors HITZ officer Dan Hart said: “We got the call from Barclays offering us the chance to come down and we couldn’t say no.”The HITZ learners we took have done very well in class this year and really deserved the opportunity to rub shoulders with the South Africa players.”

The HITZ programme is delivered nationally by Premiership Rugby and tackles some of the greatest challenges facing young people today — unemployment, crime and disillusionment.