Kiwi lock weighs up Sixways stay

The ultra-consistent former Auckland Blues second row, whose three-year deal expires at the end of the current campaign, has ruled out joining another Guinness Premiership side, but has family issues to sort out before he can open negotiations with the Warriors.

The 31-year-old, who was born in Durban, South Africa, explained: “I am in the last year of my contract, but I’m not sure what is happening next year at the moment yet.

“I am keen to stay, but there are a few other issues to sort out, so I’m not 100 per cent sure yet. If I do stay in England, though, it will be with Worcester.”

The four-cap All Black has been a key member of the Warriors pack under director of rugby Mike Ruddock and the Worcester chief is desperate to hold on to one of his major assets.

The Welshman said: “We’d love to see Greg stay at the club.

“It would be great if he could stay, but we are waiting for him to give us the green light to start negotiations.

“He is highly-respected within the squad and a real leader on the field.”

Since signing for Worcester back in the summer of 2007, Rawlinson believes Warriors have made real strides forward.

The giant lock highlighted a change in mindset at the club as one of the major improvements during his time at Sixways.

“Take last week’s game, for example,” he said. “We didn’t play well and we were very disappointed, whereas in previous years we might have said ‘oh well, another loss, let’s look to next week’.

“Now, we know we can beat Harlequins and our attitude to the big games has changed as we are saying to ourselves that we should be winning them.

“Worcester have come a hell of a long way since I joined — people are a lot more professional and, the way the coaches are going, things have turned around a lot.

“It is a much more enjoyable environment to be in at the moment and I think we are on the verge of really pushing up the league.”