KYRAN BRACKEN is gearing up for his tenth season with the Men in Black after signing a one-year contract extension.

The World Cup winning number nine had planned to call time on his career in the summer but Steve Diamond has persuaded him to extend his career by a further season and he will now double up as the club's scrum-half coach.

"It was important he stayed," said Diamond. "His experience will be huge for us in some of the big games. In some of the games we won away from home he was immense, particularly at Bath where he was a giant. He's still got the ability to do that."

Bracken's career has been dogged by a back injury that almost forced him to quit the game, but new conditioning coach Nigel Ashley-Jones has devised an over-30's club' that is designed to manage the fitness and condition of the most experienced members of the side.

"If we can look after people physically and if they don't rely on speed then they become a better asset as a rugby player," said Diamond.

"Bracken is integral to the understanding of how we want to play the game but he is also one of the givers in life and has been helping Mosese Rauluni and Alan Dickens in his dual role as a coach."