THE NUMBER two jersey is set to be one of the most sought after at Worcester Warriors this season and its current holder insisted he was looking forward to the tussle.
Hooker Ed Shervington has started in Warriors’ opening two Aviva Premiership clashes, with academy prospect Nick Seymour having to bide his time on the bench.
But the battle for the starting shirt is expected to get even tastier when Chris Brooker returns to full fitness and fellow summer signing Agustin Creevy arrives at Sixways next month following his showings for Argentina in the Rugby Championship.
It will mean four players will be vying for the jersey and Shervington, who has made 66 appearances for Warriors since joining from Ospreys in 2010, told the Standard he could not wait to go head to head with his new team-mates.
“I am pretty happy with the competition to be honest with you,” he said. “I was at Ospreys for four years and I had Richard Hibbard and Huw Bennett in front of me and it only made me a better player.
“It is not to say I was nailed down number one choice last year, although I did play a lot. But you never want to sit in a team meeting knowing you are going to get picked. The players they have brought in like Brooker, who has obviously had a bad injury but is back now, and Creevy, who is an international, is going to keep me on my toes every week.”
But Shervington added: “I personally think the pressure is on Creevy as nobody has seen him and he does not know what we are doing.
“I have done all I can over pre-season and in training so if I get picked I get picked. I am happy where I am at the moment, so hopefully I will get rewarded for that.”
Despite losing the first two games of the season, the 28-year-old is confident the regime under director of rugby Dean Ryan will eventually begin to bear fruit.
“Everyone is in the same boat now where they are enjoying the environment,” Shervington said.
“It might sound a bit clichéd, but I think this year is the start of something special because there has been such a change in the background and hopefully it will show in our rugby this season.”
