THE new owners at Sixways have U-turned on their decision to drop the Worcester Warriors brand and will keep the club name going forward.

Jim O'Toole and James Sandford, directors of Atlas (company buying the club), were speaking at the supporter event at Sixways on Saturday afternoon and began by saying they will keep the Worcester Warriors name.

READ MORE | Wasps to come to Sixways next season

O'Toole said: "We will hold our hands up and say we got it wrong. So we intend to keep the Worcester Warriors name.

"We knew there was a lot of emotion boiling over within the community about that and maybe we didn't expect it to be like it was, but we were never afraid to hold our hands up and admit that. 

"It was a pretty warm reception after we confirmed the name would be staying and we are pretty pleased with how it (the event) went after that."

The pair, who front the Atlas company, had suggested on Thursday, February 9 that they would adopt the new name of 'Sixways Rugby' and O'Toole said the Worcester Warriors brand was "dead". 

They have now gone back on that and the club will remain under the name it had before the club went into administration.

James Sandford also confirmed that Worcester Warriors Women will remain at Sixways on a five-year deal. The Women's team is a separate entity and are funded by Cube International on a long-term contract. 

Sandford said: "We want them to be here. We want to help lift them and grow their support here at Sixways." 

There is also an agreement in principle for Wasps to come to Sixways from next season.

They were confirmed as a club in the Championship next season but have no ground as of yet. It is yet to be confirmed but the proposed plan is that Wasps are based at Sixways until Worcester Warriors are back in the Championship.