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Raz's rallying call

TACKLE-machine Dale Rasmussen insists anything less than 100 per cent commitment to the Warriors cause is not good enough.

The Samoan centre laid it on the line to his Sixways colleagues ahead of tomorrow's home scrap with Leicester Tigers (3pm).

However, far from being distressed about Worcester's future, the 30-year-old says it is an exciting time to be a Warrior.

Since Mike Ruddock took over as director of rugby, it has taken longer than anticipated for the Welshman's coaching methods to have an effect, but Rasmussen is confident the future's bright at Sixways.

The midfield man, who joined Warriors from Exeter Chiefs in the summer of 2004 and made his debut in the club's first-ever Premiership match against Newcastle Falcons, said: "If you're not willing as a player to give everything to this club then you will get left behind.

"We all crave success for Warriors and that will happen. The depth of the squad is getting better every year - next season it will go up another notch.

"That is key to moving forward, you need to be able to rotate the players - like clubs such as Leicester and Sale can do - to get the best out of them.

"It is an exciting time to be at the club. Mike has said from day one, with the support of Cecil Duckworth, this club is going places and the players know that."

Rasmussen, who signed a new three-year deal which will keep him at Warriors until 2010, is also looking forward to a big end to the season - both in the Guinness Premiership and in Europe.

He added: "We are focussing on a strong finish - as individuals and as a unit we can finish off well.

"We have the potential of winning a trophy in Europe because we have a good chance in that competition after putting ourselves in a really good position.

"As long as we don't leave it to the last weekend of the season to secure our place in the division, then we can look back at this year as a building block.

"People have to look at the bigger picture and we are going forward."

Rasmussen also revealed he is revelling in playing outside fellow southern hemisphere star Sam Tuitupou.

He said: "It's great to play alongside Sammy - he is not shy to make a tackle! You don't see too many people running down our channel now with us two so I guess it has messed up my stats - I have to go hunting for work around the pitch!

"To play alongside Sam is really inspirational. If you see somebody making breaks and producing big hits, that really rubs off on you."

7:30am Friday 7th March 2008

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