THE ball-carrying exploits of powerful back rower Andrew Durutalo will be a welcome addition to Worcester Warriors’ armoury, says head coach Carl Hogg.

The USA international has signed an undisclosed deal to join the Aviva Premiership strugglers from Championship high-fliers Ealing Trailfinders.

Hogg hailed the 29-year-old as a “great acquisition” as he believes his ability to break the gain-line will give Warriors’ another weapon in attack.

He also said Durutalo’s versatility will strengthen his side who are bidding to avoid relegation from England’s top flight and progress in the European Challenge Cup this season.

“He can play six, seven or eight so he is a great acquisition for us,” Hogg said.

“He gives us another ball-carrying option.

“We have got the likes us David Denton, GJ van Velze and Alafoti Fa’osiliva who can provide that impact as well.

“But with us taking the European Challenge Cup very seriously along with the Premiership it is a heavy workload for those players.

“We need to make sure we manage the group across 22 rounds of the Premiership and hopefully we can extend this European Challenge Cup campaign.”

Warriors have suffered a number injuries in the back row with Marco Mama (knee) expected to miss the entire season.

Dewald Potgieter (knee) is due to return in December while Matt Cox (bicep) faces up to nine weeks on the sidelines.

Durutalo is unlikely to play in Warriors’ clash against Connacht at the Sportsground on Saturday (3pm).

But Hogg has not ruled out adding the New York City-born forward to his 41-man European squad.

Durutalo has scored five tries in six games for Ealing who have climbed to second in the table and played for Japan-based Super Rugby side Sunwolves in the 2016 season.

He has also won 19 caps and crossed the whitewash four times for his country and played in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

“We have obviously got long-term issues around Marco, Dewald and Matt who is out for a decent length of time,” Hogg added.

“In the back row the attrition rate is very high because of the amount of work and collision is being asked of them in a game.

“We need to have a level of competition.”