Worcester will hope Betty can step into the void left by the injured Pat Sanderson (pictured) © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Richard Hill | Pat Sanderson

Tournaments/Tours: Amlin Challenge Cup | Aviva Premiership

Teams: England

Worcester have strengthened their back-row resources for the 2011-12 Aviva Premiership season by signing promising Cornish Pirates flanker Sam Betty.

Betty will link up with the Warriors ahead of their pre-season training camp in Geneva and forthcoming friendlies against the Melbourne Rebels and Argentina. The Bristol-born forward becomes Worcester's 13th new signing ahead of their return to top-flight English rugby. Worcester boss Richard Hill was delighted to announce his new signing and admitted he had been keeping tabs on Betty for a while.

"Sam is a player that I have been aware of for a number of years," revealed Hill. "Don Rutherford, the former Technical Director of the RFU, has kept onto me about this player, who has impressed year after year.

"He played particularly well against us when he came on in the second leg of the RFU Championship final. When Sam came on the Cornish Pirates looked dangerous and played very well in that final half an hour. Sam can operate at openside or blindside but we seem him primarily as a six. He is an aggressive ball carrier and destructive tackler. That aggression is an attractive proposition to us and he is hugely motivated with a big work rate."

Betty's arrival at Sixways, though, comes with former Worcester and England captain Pat Sanderson battling to make September's Premiership kick-off. Flanker Sanderson has been sidelined since suffering a shoulder injury during Worcester's Championship play-off clash against Bristol in March.

"Pat has taken longer than he, and we, would have liked to repair, and he remains in rehabilitation with us," said Hill. At the moment he is unlikely to make any of the pre-season games, and therefore there is a danger that he will not be match fit for the start of the season."