ANDY Keast will be am-ong old friends when he begins his first week at Worcester Rugby Club on Monday.

The 39-year-old enjoyed a successful six-month stint at Glouc-ester last season where, among others, he coached Elton Moncrief and Chris Yates.

The former British Lions coach was also a keen admirer of Kingsley Jones' leadership qualities during his time at Kingsholm and is looking forward to linking back up with his former players.

"I have weekly contact with many of them at the moment," he said. "I'm close friends with a lot of the high-profile players there like Kingsley and Chris Yates. Chris has bags of experience like Elton and I'm just looking forward to getting the best out of them but that goes for the whole squad.

"There is a lot of hard work to be done but it is an exciting time for me."

Keast was brought to Worcester by his former Kingsholm colleague John Brain whom he worked with last year at Gloucester.

The backs specialist replaced Steve Townend at the club this week after a coaching re-structure at Sixways. And for the former Natal Sharks man, the future is looking bright.

"Our goal is obviously to get into the Premiership this season," he said. "I wouldn't have come here if I didn't feel we could do it this season - there is still all to play for. Worcester, as everyone knows, should be in the Premiership because they not only have great facilities, they also have top-class players."

Within their four-month partnership at Gloucester last season, Keast and Brain were seen as the catalysts for a run which turned their season around.

And with Worcester behind Rotherham in the National One table, Keast is hoping for a repeat performance.

"I think we both understand each other and in that period, things went well at Gloucester.

"There is a lot of hard work to be done at Worcester but obviously we are still going for promotion this season."