Davis delighted with Heathcote

Bath coach Brad Davis hailed a mature performance from rookie fly-half Tom Heathcote after a 36-17 win over Worcester put the west country club within touching distance of a Heineken Cup qualification spot.

Heathcote, 20, who kicked four conversions and a penalty, is understudy to All Black Stephen Donald and still an academy player, although he has recently signed a three-year deal with the club.

Donald is currently ruled out by a knee ligament injury and Davis said: "Stephen's going to have to fight his way back into that number 10 shirt. The guy who's there at the moment is going from strength to strength and learning the game."

He added: "The crowd here at the Rec know their stuff and when Tommy's on the ball they get excited about what he does for the team. He's a level-headed guy but he was terrific again today.

"He's a good player. He has the skills, the passing game, the kicking game, but he's brave too in the way he takes the line on and also in defence. But he's got his feet on the ground and he's a terrific guy to work with."

Wings Tom Arscott and Miles Benjamin crossed for Worcester, leaving head coach Richard Hill to reflect that it was "one game too far" after their heroics against Saracens the week before.

Hill said: "The danger after Saracens was that we might think that the job was done.

"We started brightly but we just ran out of steam a little. We lost a bit of intensity. The mind was willing so I couldn't really fault anyone for effort."

The former Recreation Ground favourite added: "Bath are one of the top three teams on form at the moment.

"It was good to secure the second try, we had a little bit of consolation there, but for some reason our set piece didn't function as it usually does. We've had a really tough, intense period since Christmas and the tank's a little bit drained."