FORMER South Africa centre Wynand Olivier has vowed to give his all in cementing Worcester Warriors’ spot in the Aviva Premiership.

Olivier will add experience to Warriors’ backline after arriving on a two-year deal.

The 32-year-old centre has won 38 caps for the Springboks and played three times at the 2007 World Cup as South Africa lifted the Webb Ellis Cup.

Before officially sealing his Warriors deal, Olivier played for the Barbarians against Worcester in a warm-up match at Sixways.

“I will do my best – I leave my heart out on the pitch and give 100 per cent as a player,”

said Olivier.

“I do it for myself, my family and the club. But the club comes first.

“I am here to help the club.

I am a little bit older than some of the boys and I will try to use my experience to help some of the youngsters and, hopefully, we can have a successful season.”

Olivier joined Worcester after his release from French club Montpellier and was Dean Ryan’s 13th signing of the summer.

“I flew over to see Dean but I had a visa issue, but the club got everything sorted,” he said.

“We were in talks about things but, when I played at Sixways for the Barbarians, there were no certainties at that stage I would be coming to Worcester due to the visa issue.

“I wasn’t due to play that game either – I would have just played against Samoa and then gone straight back home.

“But it was good for me to stay on, see Worcester and Cheltenham and get to know the area a bit and I enjoyed it.”

At club level, Olivier played from 2005 to 2013 in South Africa for his provincial side The Bulls, with whom he enjoyed Super Rugby and Currie Cup success.

He then spent two seasons in France, making 38 appearances for Montpellier.

“I quite enjoyed playing in France – it’s a bit different because of the French flair,” said Olivier.

“When summer-time comes in France, the ball gets thrown around quite a bit.

“I enjoyed the French lifestyle and I liked the French rugby and the two-and-a-half years was quite enjoyable.

“But my deal came to a conclusion after a discussion with the coaches and the president.

“I didn’t see eye to eye on a couple of things and I asked for my release and they granted it.”

Olivier made his Worcester debut in the 52-30 warm-up loss to Wasps and has been impressed with his new teammates.

“I think the Worcester boys will have learned a lot from the Wasps game.

“The game was a lot quicker than some of the boys were used to.

“There’s quite a few things for the Worcester boys to adapt to and a lot of challenges which lie ahead.

“But I think there are exciting times ahead and the boys scored some awesome tries and put some great phases together.”

He added: “The boys are excited about playing in the Premiership and I am as well because I have never played in it.

“I was on holiday for a couple of months and being back in the team environment is good for me. I now need to get 100 per cent ready for the start of the new season.”