BATH scrum-half Will Chudley believes his team’s recent good form has put them in an excellent position to make a serious move on the top four in the Premiership, writes JONATHAN LEIGHFIELD.

After a dominant bonus-point win against Newcastle Falcons at The Rec last weekend – that saw tries from Chudley, Semesa Rokoduguni, Joe Cokanasiga and Francois Louw give them a 30-13 win – the Blue, Black and Whites play the team directly below them, Northampton Saints, on Saturday before facing the top three in succession throughout March.

And with five wins in their last six games behind them, Chudley insists Bath are one of the form sides in the division – along with Saints – and is confident of continuing their positive run at the weekend.

He said: “It’s always good to start off a block of a big four games for us by getting a five-point win to give us some momentum.

“Overall, it was a good solid win against Newcastle with lots to work on as well.

“I think we’re in a good place now. We had a really good block of games over the past five or six and I think we’re in a really good position now to go and have a good crack at Northampton.”

One of the key areas that Chudley feels Bath need to improve, though, is the collecting of bonus-point wins, something they have struggled with as their Premiership campaign has only recently spluttered into life.

Todd Blackadder’s team have the joint-second lowest bonus point tally in the division alongside Newcastle – only Sale Sharks have fewer – and the 30-year-old scrum-half said good performances will naturally pave the way for bonus-point victories that could secure a top-four finish.

He said: “We just want to try and get our performances right, and if we get them right then on the back of that, you put yourself in a situation where the try-bonus points become available and realistic.

“We’re disappointed we haven’t been able to get more (bonus points), but the situations we’ve put ourselves in a lot of the time this year haven’t been ideal and allowed us to be full of confidence to go and get them.

“After this next block of games, it will probably start to look like a two-tier league, with a top league and a bottom league. At the moment, it’s all just one big rat race to reach the top four.

“These next few games are huge for us – suddenly, if we bang in some big wins then the league will become very exciting for us and each game then becomes bigger and bigger, which is awesome for everyone at Bath.”