FORMER Saracens chief executive officer Edward Griffiths has been a “great addition” to Worcester Warriors’ backroom staff.

That’s the view from versatile back Ryan Mills, who says Griffiths has been dealing with important off-the-field matters at Sixways.

Griffiths and director of rugby Gary Gold arrived at the club together at the end of January with Warriors embroiled in a shoot-out with Bristol for Aviva Premiership survival.

Warriors won the battle for top tier safety and Gold will be remaining until the end of next season after signing a new deal.

Mills admits the vastly-experienced Griffiths played a major part in his own decision to pen a new contract with Warriors.

“Edward is a massive character,” said Mills.

“He deals with a lot of stuff off the pitch like player welfare and that sort of thing and has been a great addition.

“It’s just nice to have a freshening up around the squad and new people coming in and new voices.”

Griffiths left Saracens in the summer of 2015 after seven years in which he helped to transform them into one of the leading teams in the Premiership.

During Griffiths' time as the boss, Saracens moved to Allianz Park after playing for a number of years at Watford football club's Vicarage Road ground.

They also won the Premiership in 2010-11 and reached the final of the Heineken Cup in 2014.

Griffiths is a former chief executive officer at the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and ex-chairman of the South African Rugby Players Association.

He was a member of the location local organising committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and a consultant for South Africa’s 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup bids.

Griffiths has been a representative for the South African cricket star AB de Villiers, who captains the national one-day team, since 2008.

He also worked as a sports writer and sports editor for the South African Sunday Times newspaper for almost six years.