FORMER Gloucester stalwart John Brain has been appointed as Worcester Rugby Club's new head coach.

The 40-year-old, who spent most of his playing career at Kingsholm, has left the Zurich Premiership club to take up the Sixways role vacated by Adrian Skeggs last month.

Brain had been assistant coach to Philippe Saint-Andre for the past two seasons at Gloucester, guiding them to third in the Premiership last year and, more recently, to the Heineken Cup semi-finals.

However, the former second-row player has severed his ties to the Cherry and Whites and is looking forward to guiding Worcester into the Premiership.

He said: "I heard a comment the other day that Worcester are a sleeping giant who have overslept!

"It's about time the club were in the top flight because they have Premiership ambitions and certainly top-class facilities.

"It is a big opportunity for me to prove that I can be a success as a full-time head coach after my experience at Gloucester.

"I've been very impressed with the chairman Cecil Duckworth's vision for the future of the club and am looking forward to the move."

Brain has been involved in coaching since he called time on his playing career five years ago.

He won promotion with Cheltenham before moving back to Gloucester as a second team forwards coach.

After impressing in that role, Brain worked as a first-team forwards coach before becoming Saint-Andre's assistant in 1999.

The former trading standards manager at Gloucestershire County Council, although having no previous experience of a head coach role, believes he can live up to the scrutiny of Duckworth who axed Skeggs despite just two league defeats last season.

"The pressure is there, there is no doubt about that but I have a two-year contract and expect to be here for at least two years.

"Worcester have maybe underachieved in the past few years but what people need to understand is that although they only finished a few points behind Leeds, that seemingly marginal improvement is sometimes the hardest to achieve.

"I'm a very much hands-on coach and the teams I've been associated with have always been known for strong forward play and being very physical.

"I am a great believer in good preparation of players and also analysis of the opposition, playing a specific game-plan for each individual match."