Worcester coach Mike Ruddock looks for further arrivals atter Willie Walker
Feb 11 2009 by Brian Dick, Birmingham Post
Having secured one half back until the end of this season Mike Ruddock is interested in bringing another to Sixways for next term.
Following on from yesterday’s announcement Willie Walker has signed on loan from near-neighbours Gloucester, Worcester will also try to bring former England scrum half Shaun Perry to the club if Bristol are relegated at the end of the current Premiership campaign.
The ex Coventry and Dudley Kingswinford No 9 will still be under contract to the division’s bottom team but has a release clause in his deal that allows him to leave Memorial Stadium if Bristol drop out of the top flight. They are currently bottom of the table seven points behind Newcastle and trail Worcester by nine.
Although he is also attracting overtures from abroad, notably from Warriors’ European Challenge Cup quarter final opponents Brive, Ruddock is known to be keen on bringing the dynamic 30-year-old back to the West Midlands.
If he is successful Worcester would have an embarrassment of riches at scrum half with the Powells Matt and Ryan and academy product Jonny Arr all contracted until summer 2010.
Of the current crop only Ben Jones, away in San Diego with England Sevens, will be a free agent at the end of the season.
But Perry would undoubtedly be the star attraction having gained 14 England caps and become a key member of the Bristol team since moving from Butts Park Arena in 2005.
Perry spent most of his formative years working as a welder and playing for DK in the lower echelons of the National Leagues before being tempted to Coventry.
He found it difficult to break into the Cov side in his first year but after scoring the try that kept them in National One in 2004, he went on to flourish under head coach Steve Williams.
That earned him a move to Bristol where he has further developed under ex England No 9 Richard Hill and broken into the international set up during which time he made a try-scoring debut against the All Blacks.
But all the ifs must become maybes and crystallise into definites before Perry will be seen in the Blue and Gold.
The same, however, cannot be said for Walker who has moved up the M5 after falling down the pecking order at Gloucester.
The former New Zealand Maori has been the first casualty of Carlos Spencer’s arrival at Kingsholm and will go straight into the squad for this weekend’s league match with Bath.
“He is a proven premiership and international player with a lot of experience under his belt,” Ruddock said. “He’s very confident in several positions such as a 10, 12 or 15. He brings a winning attitude with him, he has played some really good rugby for a number of years.”
