Worcester put trust in Brain
June 5, 2001

Worcester have appointed former Gloucester assistant John Brain as their new head coach.

Brain will replace Adrian Skeggs, who was released from Sixways at the end of the season after Worcester were beaten to promotion to the Zurich Premiership by Leeds Tykes.

The 40-year-old will leave his job as a trading standards officer to work full-time with the Blue and Golds on a two-year contract.

"Worcester are a club with Premiership ambitions and I am interested in coaching in the Premiership,'' said Brain, who left Gloucester after more than two decades as a player and coach last month.

"I have been very impressed with the owner Cecil Duckworth and the vision he has for the club.

"I have been offered posts in full-time rugby before but they have only been in a number two capacity.

"What has tempted me this time is to have a large amount of control of the playing squad.

"Geoff Cooke, the chief executive [and former England coach], is there to advise me and will be a sounding board but I will be responsible for the performance of the team.''

Worcester have embarked on a recruitment drive to get them into the top flight, which includes Gloucester centre Chris Yates and Welsh scrum-half Richard Smith from Ebbw Vale, while Bath's Ben Clarke is another target.

Both Clarke and the Gloucester captain Kingsley Jones had been linked with a player-coach role at Sixways.

Skeggs departed a year after Worcester, who finished third in their previous two seasons in the second division, released Les Cusworth from a similar position.

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