DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan has admitted Leicester Tigers-bound Mike Williams would not be the only rising star to look at achieving their lofty ambitions elsewhere.
However, he assured fans Worcester Warriors would continue to develop promising young players in a bid to fulfil the club’s dream of becoming a side challenging for the Aviva Premiership title.
Ryan said he was disappointed with the 23-year-old’s decision to join Tigers in the summer as he felt Warriors could have added more to his game.
But the Warriors boss said he also understood the reason behind his move and he admitted more situations would crop up like this where a player believes they are ready to play top European rugby.
“I felt like he could have had another year or so here as he would have been able to see where we were going and I think we could have helped him,” Ryan said.
“We don’t want him to go and we are disappointed, but you have also got a relationship with someone where you have got to understand that that’s something he has got to go and do.
“Leicester and Saracens are at the top of their game and, until we are able to say that ourselves, there’s always going to be something ticking in someone’s head that potentially needs answering in another environment.
“We have got to accept that the constant flow isn’t always going to be coming in. There is going to be people that go out, but as long as we get the weight of numbers coming in then we should be able to keep progress at the rate that we are.”
Before Ryan took over in 2013, a number of talented players left Worcester to progress their careers at another club.
However, Ryan insisted Williams’ departure was not due to a lack of opportunities, which he believes was the cause of the likes of Matt Cox and James Percival leaving Warriors in the past.
“When we talk about people leaving now it is a very different set of circumstances,” Ryan said. “Previously, their ambition was being overridden by the fact they didn’t think the club was heading in the right direction and it was not able to keep apace.
“Now it is slightly different as the pace of Mike Williams is just at a different point in time than us.”
Ryan said the club would also be keen to welcome the Zimbabwean back if he struggled to break through at Welford Road.
“It is a tough club to make it at as you have to be close to international rugby to play in their side,” Ryan added.
“Mike is a young lad setting out on his career where he has got two or three things going really well for him and two or three things which he needs to really work on.
“When you put yourself in that spotlight sometimes it highlights the things that you need to improve, so it depends on how quickly you sort them out whether you survive at Leicester and that’s the nature of being at those big clubs.”
Caption: Mike Williams will leave Warriors at the end of the season. Picture by Andy Baldwin.