WORCESTER Warriors have got “a few frontrunners” for the director of rugby position according to director Cecil Duckworth.

The Aviva Premiership outfit have been looking for a new man to take over the reins after it was announced in October that Gary Gold would leave to become USA’s head coach next summer.

Duckworth admitted the search had “dragged on” due to the club’s efforts to secure new investment.

But the club president was hopeful of having the vacancy filled before Christmas.

“It has dragged on a bit because of the ownership issue,” Duckworth said.

“We have got almost 30 applicants with a pretty handsome list of DORs interested.

“There are a few frontrunners so hopefully we can move positively next week on that and get it concluded. It should not take long.”

Warriors published the position on their website in late October, stating they wanted someone to “lead the club from the 2018-19 season onwards”.

The statement said Warriors were looking for “an experienced director of rugby” who saw the role as a “long-term project”.

“The successful applicant will have a proven track record of overseeing successful sides at club or international level and Warriors are eager to hear from candidates who believe they have the necessary skills and experience to lead the club through its next phase,” the statement added.

The deadline for applications was on Friday, November 10, and speaking last month chairman Bill Bolsover said they were “looking all over the globe” for the right man.

Warriors currently have an arrangement with boss Gary Gold where he can return to South Africa during the season to see his family.

But Bolsover insisted he wanted Gold’s replacement to live locally.

“I think it is important they commit themselves to living near the ground as opposed to Gary who we knew was going to be living in South Africa,” Bolsover said.

“We knew it was a short-term position we took Gary on for so I accepted he would be able to go back to South Africa.

“We would want someone living here, they might come from anywhere in the world, but we would expect them to live here.”

Bolsover added: “If you look at rugby in total there are two types of director of rugby.

“There is a coaching director of rugby and an administrative director of rugby.

“Probably four Premiership clubs now have more of an administrative director of rugby as opposed to a coaching director of rugby.

“In my opinion it is important to get a director of rugby who is the right fit for us as a club and then his role is then to make sure everything else fits below him.

“We are not saying we have to go for this style.

“I can tell you now that with the applications that have come in we have got a complete diverse range of styles and countries.”