AUSTRALIAN sevens star Tim Walsh will be on the bench as Worcester Rugby Club face their toughest test of the season on Saturday.

The 23-year-old fly-half is in Worcester's squad bound for Plymouth as the National One title race hots up.

Walsh, brought in following James Brown's back surgery, has signed a contract to keep him at Sixways until the end of January.

Despite only arriving this week in Worcester, Sixways director of rugby John Brain has named him as a replacement for the trip to Beacon Park.

"He's a good runner and passer," said Brain. "We've seen him play most recently in the NPC for North Harbour. He's a left-footed player, can kick and suits our style of play very well.

"Tim has played full back and centre so he is flexible and a good addition to the squad.

"He's played a lot of sevens rugby and has started for Queensland so, for a young player, he has a good pedigree.

"We were very concerned that, if we received another injury to either Craig Chalmers or young Jon Higgins, we would be down to one fit fly-half in the wake of James Brown's surgery," said Brain.

"James will be out until January and we felt we needed to bring someone in.

"Higgins is also nursing a troublesome knee and we need to rest him -- that's why he's not in-volved on Saturday.

"We were fortunate to locate a player like Tim who was willing to come to us initially for quite a short period."