Gary Gold appointed director of rugby at Worcester

Worcester have appointed Gary Gold as their new director of rugby.

The experienced South African will arrive at Sixways on January 30 to work alongside head coach Carl Hogg, initially until the end of the season.

Gold was South Africa's assistant coach between 2008 and 2011 and has Premiership experience as head coach of London Irish and, more recently, Bath's director of rugby.

The 49-year-old left Bath in 2014 to take up a similar role with the Sharks in Super Rugby, and his return to England comes with Worcester just a point off the foot of the Premiership after 13 games.

He said: "The opportunity to return to the Aviva Premiership to oversee such an exciting project is something which hugely appeals to me and I am looking forward to getting started.

"There are nine Premiership games remaining this season and the hard work has already begun as we look to rise to the challenge and ensure the rest of the season is a success."

Warriors chief executive, Jim O'Toole, said: "Gary is highly regarded in the global game. He is someone who has always taken clubs forward and managed to get the best out of players and staff.

"We believe that working with Head Coach Carl Hogg and his coaching team he will take us in the right direction for the rest of this campaign to achieve the obvious goal of improving our league position."

Worcester did not replace director of rugby Dean Ryan at the time of his summer departure, instead employing Hogg and performance director Nick Johnston as their senior management team.