POWERFUL lock Michael Fatialofa is due to begin his Worcester Warriors career later this week after guiding Auckland to Mitre 10 Cup glory.

The New Zealander was part of the side who defeated Canterbury 40-33 in a thrilling final that was decided in extra-time on Saturday.

The 6ft 6in forward, who has joined Warriors on a two-year deal, is set to land in England on Thursday night before reporting to Warriors for his first day on Friday.

“I didn’t watch the final but it was a fantastic win for Auckland and great for Michael to be involved in it,” said director of rugby Alan Solomons.

“I have seen him play a lot in Super Rugby (with Hurricanes) which is a higher level competition.

“You don’t play Super Rugby for one of the top New Zealand franchises unless you are a very good rugby player.”

Solomons said Fatialofa would play no part in Warriors’ upcoming Premiership Cup clashes against Leicester Tigers on Saturday (3pm) and Saracens a week on Sunday (3pm).

But having undergone a knee operation after finishing the Super Rugby campaign with Hurricanes Solomons felt Fatialofa had more than enough time to recuperate.

“Straight after the Super Rugby season (late July) he missed six weeks because he had a clean-out of his knee so he fortunately had a break,” Solomons said.

“Although he didn’t have a pre-season that amount of time is probably more than what you would get normally which is five weeks.

“He has had roughly six weeks and then had to start playing again.

“The Mitre Cup is reasonably tough because there is not a lot of training. He said to me that he played three games in a week.

“It is a semi-pro competition so it is run very differently.

“There is a lot of rugby being played but not a massive amount of training going on.

“The games are good but not at the same level as Super Rugby.

“When he comes over we will assess things with the conditioners, medics, the coaches and himself and decide how best to bleed him in and when he starts playing for us.”

But Solomons added: “There is absolutely no prospect of him playing this Saturday nor will he play against Saracens, that’s for sure.”