WORCESTER Warriors’ head coach Jonathan Thomas admits he is “excited “ to welcome Steve Diamond to the club.

The former Sale director of rugby was confirmed as the new ‘lead rugby consultant’ on Thursday having been away from rugby for the best part of a year.

Diamond’s appointment has been welcomed by Thomas, a former Warriors captain, who returned to Sixways as Forwards Coach in the summer of 2020 and was promoted to Head Coach in January this year.

“We are looking forward to welcoming Steve to the Warriors Family,” Thomas said.

“I have had some great meetings and conversations with Steve over the last few weeks.

“He is vastly experienced in a wide range of aspects of the game and I believe that his experience and skill set will add to and complement the foundations we have already put in place.

“As Head Coach I will still manage and lead the High Performance Department and be responsible for the preparation of the team and the coaching programme, reporting to Steve, the Lead Rugby Consultant, which I’m really excited about and can’t wait to get started.”

Diamond is due to start work with Worcester a week on Monday.