FRUSTRATED Warriors lock Chris Jones has revealed he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
The former England international has clearly not been in director of rugby Dean Ryan’s first-team plans and confirmed yesterday he will be playing his rugby away from Sixways next term.
The 33-year-old second row, who won 14 caps for his country, has played 67 times for Warriors since joining in the summer of 2011, but has not featured for the first XV since the end of January.
Out of contract at the end of this term, Jones said there has been no communication with Warriors officials over a new deal and he is actively looking for another club.
He said: “There is no offer on the table from Worcester — nobody has spoken to me about that, but my wife and I have been looking and we’re ready to move on and find new challenges.
“I won’t be here next year, but hopefully the boys will still be in the Premiership and, if I’m given a chance, I’ll do everything I can to help Worcester stay up.
“Dean has not spoken to me, which has been massively frustrating as I believe I should be in the team.
“Times change and people change, so the only disappointment for me is that I am not playing at the moment.
“I want to be playing and feel like I should be playing, but I am one of at least 15 players who will be leaving, so that’s life.
“There will be clubs who can see what I can do and will want me.”
The ex-Sale Sharks stalwart added: “Everyone here went into this season with a lot of hope, but we didn’t begin as we wanted to and everyone has been jumping around trying to find answers since then.
“It is disappointing because at the start of the season we had massively high hopes, but we are where we are.
“We haven’t changed what we do too much across the campaign.
“Earlier in the season, the selection jumped around a lot, but now Dean has gone with the same team and stuck with it whether they win or lose which, rightly or wrongly, gives those boys a chance to gel together.
“Going into back-to-back do-or-die games like the one against Wasps on Friday, you want to be involved, not sat on the outskirts.
“You do the best you can to help the boys in training and attack and defend against them so they are at their best, but you want to play yourself.
“Dean has decided to stick with this team and there is the argument those players are now learning to play with each other, but I’ve been doing all I can.
“I played in the LV= Cup games and he said I played very well, he was happy with me and I gave the side great structure and was man-of-the-match for the Cavaliers against the Army.
“I’m doing all I can to put myself out there, but if he doesn’t like what he sees, then que sera.”
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