WORCESTER director of rugby Mike Ruddock believes his intensive pre-season training regime is already beginning to reap benefits.

Ruddock admits the players were "off the pace" when the squad met up on June 11 but insists significant progress has been made in just three weeks.

"The first week, I thought we were a little bit off the pace in terms of skills and conditioning," said Ruddock.

"Perhaps that is only to be expected but we were definitely off the pace in terms of skills. But the players have worked pretty hard and there's been a noticeable difference in the last three weeks."

Ruddock has placed a heavy emphasis on boosting the skill level among Worcester's players to enable them to adopt a more dynamic style of play next season.

And he is not afraid to crack the whip either.

Today, the players were dispatched to the Malvern Hills with specific individual targets for body fat loss and anyone falling short will be back for extra work tomorrow.

"Training is going very well," said Ruddock. "I am very encouraged by the level of commitment to the programme we have introduced. It's a tough block of four weeks."

After next week, the first phase of the pre-season programme will be over and the players will be given a week off as reward for their efforts.

"We tried to build in a very varied programme so we have been doing a lot of skill work," added Ruddock. "I am really, really pleased and we are moving forward in terms of conditioning and skills."

Meanwhile, Warriors have appointed Tom Ryder as their new community manager.

The 24-year-old follows head coach Clive Griffiths from Doncaster and will be responsible for working with schools and junior rugby clubs.