JOHN Brain has revealed that Worcester Rugby Club had little choice but to let Tony Windo tour Chile.

The Sixways director of rugby welcomed back the loose-head prop last week following his return from South America where he captained an England Counties XV to three tour wins.

However, after originally insisting that Windo should rest in his five weeks off to prepare for pre-season training, Worcester were forced to release him by the International Rugby Board.

"Initially, we wanted Tony to rest during his time off because he'd played a lot of games last season," said Brain. "We contacted the RFU to say we wouldn't be prepared to release him only to be told that if we did not, we could face possible sanctions.

"They would range from suspending the player, so he could not play for Worcester, or fines.

"We, therefore, did not want to run in conflict with the IRB and the RFU so we accepted the situation.

"Tony, like most players, was keen to travel to play in a different country, to sample the culture and also because he was named captain of the side. We are monitoring him closely now because he has had very little time off since the end of the season."

Rather than feeling the strain, however, the 33-year-old has enjoyed his first week back at Sixways.

"There are a lot of new faces and a lot of enthusiasm at the club," he said. "You cannot help but get dragged along with it and I can honestly say I don't feel tired.

"I got back in the country on Monday last week and John Brain called me, woke me up to say 'I'll see you tomorrow!'.

"I'm pleased to be back though. Competition for places tends to fire you up and I'm really looking forward to the new season -- hopefully we can go one better this time."

"The Chile tour was quite demanding in travel terms but we were all delighted with the 33-21 victory in the Test match," added Windo.

"They had a full strength side out because they're preparing for World Cup qualifiers and, considering most of our side were from Worcester's division, it was a great result."