Shaun Perry to leave Brive this summer for Worcester

Perry moved to Brive following relegation with Bristol in 2009

Premiership hopefuls Worcester have made their first signing for next season by recruiting former England scrum-half Shaun Perry from Brive.

Perry, who has won 14 caps for England, will move from the French outfit to Sixways for the 2011/12 campaign after agreeing an initial one-year deal.

He will link up again with former Brive half-back partner Andy Goode.

The Wolverhampton-born 32-year-old will return to his Midland roots, having started out with Dudley Kingswinford.

Having come through the junior ranks at DK, he played seven seasons there before joining Coventry.

He later moved on for four years at Bristol where, under Richard Hill, now the Warriors coach, he featured prominently, making his England international debut against New Zealand in November 2006.

"Shaun's arrival will give us a really good balance to our scrum-half options with his senior experience alongside young talents like Jonny Arr and Ollie Frost," said Hill.

"He is a very good professional and has the experience to be a big asset to the squad.

"Shaun enjoyed a couple of seasons playing alongside Andy Goode at Brive and also for England, which is an advantage as they link up well together.

Shaun really wants to prove to people that he can reproduce his international form

Richard Hill

"I have spoken at length to Shaun and he is very excited about playing again in this area and is really up for the challenge he knows he will face at Warriors.

"He is a very combative scrum-half, is strong defensively and big and powerful with the ball in hand. He is a real threat to the opposition to face around the fringes.

"In many ways, Ollie Frost reminds me of a younger version of Shaun and I know our young players will benefit a great deal from him being with us.

"What has impressed me most about Shaun during our talks has been his determination to come back to England and make a very positive impression.

"He really wants to prove to people that he can reproduce his international form and I'm sure he will be a big success."

Worcester will hope that they are back in the Premiership when Perry arrives, having qualified for the Championship play-offs as runaway league leaders.