A SUCCESSION plan is already being drawn up at Worcester Warriors in preparation for Gary Gold’s departure as director of rugby.

Gold agreed a one-year deal to stay at Sixways in April after retaining Warriors’ Aviva Premiership status last term.

Chairman Bill Bolsover said the former South Africa assistant coach could remain at the helm for “two or three years”.

But he could not give any guarantees the South Africa-based coach will be at Worcester beyond next season and says they have already got to start planning for life without him.

“Because of technology these days I speak to Gary once a week through Facetime or Skype,” Bolsover said.

“The communication is tremendous and I don’t see that being a problem.

“But if there is one area we are going to have to move on with in the next few years it is with our director of rugby.

“We are always looking at how we can do succession planning on that side of the business.”

After Dean Ryan’s shock exit last summer head coach Carl Hogg and high performance director Nick Johnston were given dual leadership positions.

But the partnership was broken up with Hogg taking sole charge of rugby affairs at the end of November and Johnston returning to his original role.

With Warriors hovering just above the relegation zone after the crushing 55-19 defeat at local rivals Gloucester in January Gold, 49, was parachuted in.

The ex-London Irish, Newcastle Falcons and Bath coach galvanised Worcester as they won three of their remaining nine games to finish 13 points clear of relegated Bristol.

“I gave Dean a long-term contract because that’s what he wanted to come back into coaching,” Bolsover said.

“Gary is a very honest character and when we took him on it was to actually see us through the season.

“Then he really enjoyed it and he said ‘I could stay here longer’.

“We said let’s sign up for at least another year and move on so that’s where we are.

“As long as he is enjoying it and we are enjoying it he will continue.

“Because of the way we have set this up he can still have his family staying in South Africa which is helping him too.”

Bolsover insisted he did not want to “go through the Dean (Ryan) saga again” as the club look to put themselves in a position where they can replace Gold with a new director of rugby if necessary.

“I desperately want continuity at this club,” said Bolsover who recently appointed Gus Mackay as managing director, replacing outgoing chief executive Jim O’Toole.

“I was disappointed Dean left but he did and we moved on.

“We have got Gary and he has done an excellent job since he has been here.

“But we can’t see Gary being here for X amount of years as he lives in South Africa.

“I have got a very good relationship with him.

“We believe that side of the business is as stable as you can get with a director of rugby and I would be really disappointed if we have not got a team that can drive this forward for the next couple of years.”

Bolsover added: “Gary could be here for two or three years but we have got people like (defence coach) Omar (Mouneimne) and Carl (Hogg) who can provide support underneath him.”