"Off-season"

With pre-season training already well underway and the initial rounds of the Nations Championship shown back to back on domestic television you'd be forgiven for wondering what an off-season encompasses these days. For the majority of the Warriors squad the month of June was their downtime. One does wonder whether the players are able to eat and drink enough to lose fitness in such a short timeframe.

It sounds as though the squad's pre-season training is going well with the influx of a dozen new recruits (a baker's dozen if you include Cam Miell) focussing minds and providing extra motivation to be the best version of themselves. At least two "mystery" players have been evident on the club's social media videos as training with the squad. It remains to be seen as to whether the former Scotland U-20 scrum half and Wasps/Bristol openside will become full-blown Worcester Warriors.

Recruitment has largely followed the same pattern as last year with a few experienced individuals in Tom Savage, Joe Jones and John Hawkins being joined by some exciting youngsters in the likes of Lochie Glackin and Will Owen. There is also room for several players with proven records and many years ahead of them - Charlie Chapman and James Cherry being perhaps two of our most exciting new signings.

Pre-Season

The two pre-season match-ups have already been announced with a trip up to Dillingham Park to play Ampthill being first up on Saturday August 29th. The kick-off time is yet to be announced but we will be advertising coach transport as soon as this becomes available. URC team Cardiff Rugby will be visiting Sixways for the second fixture at 3pm on Saturday September 5th. Tickets are expected to go on sale shortly; access to the game is free for Season Ticket Holders. Cardiff's squad for 2026/27 includes high-profile new recruits Jarrod Evans and Scott Sio as well as a plethora of experienced Wales internationals such as Josh Adams, James Botham, Taulupe Faletau, Ben Thomas and Callum Sheedy to name a few. The Sixways faithful will no doubt be hoping that Josh Adams (Semper Bellator 2015-19) is among the 23 to grace the hallowed 4G.

Josh Adams - 39 tries in 65 appearances for Warriors

Player Sponsorship

We understand that opportunities remain available to sponsor members of the Warriors' playing squad. With categories starting at just £800 (+vat) with match tickets, a signed shirt, advertising and a behind the scenes evernt included in the package it's a good opportunity to support the club financially and become more involved with the players. More information on commercial opportunities is available here. Incidentally, we understand that some Prem clubs are asking tens of thousands a year to sponsor their international players - grab the chance to get good exposure for your company / family & friends group while you can.

WWST is excited to announce our sponsorship of new signing James Cherry for the coming season. James began his rugby career in Norfolk, as did the likes of Ben & Tom Youngs, Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman and Jack Van Poortvliet. He studied at Nottingham University between 2019 and 2024 graduating with a Masters degree in management as well as captaining the University First XV. During that time he also became an integral part of Nottingham RFC's squad winning their Player of the Season in 2024/25, Supporters Player of the season in 24/25 & 25/26 and the "Hard Working Good Bloke" award, also in both years. Last season he scored an astonishing 21 tries from the Number 8 position, missing just two league games, during one of which he played instead for Leicester Tigers in their Prem Cup fixture against Newcastle Red Bulls. In his games for Nottingham he averaged 77 minutes of playing time, being replaced just twice. Still only 25 years old, James will undoubtedly be hoping to make a similar impact in his first season at Sixways and I'm sure that WWST members and all supporters will be behind him all the way.

James Cherry (left) in action against Warriors at The Bay 27/2/26 © NickBImages

Website changes

We have recently spent time updating our website to reflect the season ahead. The Fixtures page will be renewed as and when the dates and timings of the league games are confirmed. We are delighted to continue our partnership with Nick Browning of NickBImages to bring you squad and match-day photos. From the start of the pre-season our Match Day Gallery, Champ Rugby Pages and BlogPosts will be available to subscribed members only. If you enjoy the website content and have not yet subscribed to WWST please do so here! Tier One prices remain the same at just £10 per year and include a 15% reduction on all away fixture transport.

Warriors Academy Fundraising

We hope to make a substantial four-figure donation to the new Warriors Academy, headed up by England and Wasps legend Joe Launchbury, before the end of this calendar year. Rest-assured that the majority of the money we receive via subscriptions and merchandise will find its way directly into the Youth Management programme at Sixways. All money donated via our fundraising page will be also funneled into the Academy and used in the best way that Joe and his colleagues see fit.

The Worcester Show

The Worcester Show is once again taking place on Pitchcroft on Sunday 9th August. The ticket cost is nominal for adults and free for U-16s. As ever, WWST will have a presence in the SportsZone; it promises to be a great day out so reserve your tickets and stick it in the diary!

An appeal

Once the dates/times of away fixtures are confirmed we will be putting out an appeal to WWST Members to help with the manning of away coaches for the coming season. Anyone who volunteers as a "coach rep" will be allocated free transport to the fixture(s) that they cover. It is a relatively simple task - keeping a register of travellers and helping out with the raffle on the journey back to Sixways. Keep a look out if you are interested as our next blog will include more details.

Over and Out,

Marcus