WORCESTER Warriors' soon to be director of rugby Steve Diamond is preparing a raid on former side Sale Sharks as he looks to add some beef to the pack.

Diamond has now taken over control of Worcester after last week's departure of head coach Jonathan Thomas and took charge of his first game last weekend in the 13-29 defeat to Northampton Saints at Sixways.

He is now looking to concentrate on the recruitment side of things and believes adding some much needed size and grunt to the front five is particularly necessary to make Worcester more competitive.

Rumours in The Rugby Paper have linked a number of potential suitors from Sale to Sixways including two of the three Du Preez brothers.

Both Jean-Luc and Dan are supposedly on the list for Diamond, as well as hooker Akker van der Merwe, brother of Worcester's Scotland winger Duhan.

Another name mentioned was 27-year-old flanker Cameron Nield.

The former England U20 international started out as a hooker but has now made 120 appearances for the Salford-based club.

Speaking last week, Diamond responded to questions about his recruitment policy and highlighted the areas he may look to exploit.

"We need to add to the pack, there isn't enough 'bump' if I am honest, but everyone will be given a fair crack at the whip so we will see what we have in the next month or six weeks," he said.

"We have to realise that the salary cap has come down significantly and when i was recruiting three or four years ago, we had a lot more money to spend and it was easier.

"So now we have to be smart in our recruitment; find those hidden gems in the Championship or lower and even in Eastern Europe or wherever my contacts are and get them well coached.

"I know how to do that, i am confident putting together a highly competitive squad in the competition.

"We certainly have the full cap available to us and part of my role going forward will be to utilise that cap and decide what we can bring in."