The footballer Paolo Di Canio once reported that the man who tended his piranhas told him that if the striker left West Ham he would kill all his fish.
It is uncertain if Sam Lewis ever received such a threat during his seven years at Worcester Warriors rugby club, but there is zero doubt that, like the yesteryear Di Canio at the Hammers, he qualified for the status of fans’ favourite.
When the club announced he was being released last week, there were tributes sprayed across social media, with one poster lauding him as the “best player to have pulled on a Worcester jersey”.
