MIKE Ruddock admits he won’t decide on his starting XV until he has seen how well the squad adapts to the new Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) during the forthcoming pre-season games.

The Sixways director of rugby insists that no-one is guaranteed a place in the Warriors first team and he will pick his squad to face Northampton Saints for the opening Guinness Premier-ship fixture at Franklin’s Gardens on September 7 on merit.

The former Wales Grand Slam winning-coach said: “You’d like to think that as a coach, I’ve got a fair idea of who might be the starting XV, but we haven’t seen these guys in action under the new laws yet, so the next couple of games will give everyone a chance to stake their claim.

“I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen them all play and there is a huge amount of competition for places. The new laws have suddenly changed things and the players who deliver under them might overtake a player who was ahead of them last year.”

Having seen his Worcester team finish last season as one of the form teams in the country as well as guiding them to the final of the European Challenge Cup, Ruddock is understandably confident ah-ead of the new term.

The Welshman added: “We think we’ve got a strong squad — a squad that is capable of challenging big time.

“Ultimately, we’ve got to deliver on the field. It’s one thing to talk a good game, but we’ve got to front up against Northampton on the opening day and prove we can deliver.

“Northampton are going to be a quality team and they will be fired up to beat us and continue their unbeaten rec-ord from last season in Div-ision One.

“With these new laws coming in, things are a little thrown up in the air. It comes down to who adapts best, gets off to a flying start and builds the confidence in their game.”

The Warriors chief is deternmined to begin the season well after enduring a miserable start to his Sixways rein.

After Ruddock took over, Worcester went winless in the league until the end of Jan-uary. A fine second half to the season rescued Worcester from another relegation battle, but Ruddock is desperate to avoid a repeat.

He added: “The last couple of years, we haven’t got off to a good start so it would be excellent if we could begin well.

“If we can hit the track running, as I anticipate we will, then I think we’ll have a really exciting season.”