If Gareth Delve had any doubts about returning to the Gloucester side after a third major knee operation, he has done a mighty fine job of disguising it.

The 26-year-old suffered the third cruciate ligament injury of his career during Wales' tour of South Africa last June – and only returned to club action last month.

Three matches into his comeback, the No 8 is looking as though he was never away, performing with his usual gusto at the back of the scrum and displaying his trademark power and pace around the field.

After helping Gloucester to victory against fellow Guinness Premiership title-chasers London Irish on his return, he then helped them see off another contender in Sale Sharks.

And although they were beaten by a late Harlequins try last weekend, the Welshman's successful comeback was confirmed when he not only kept the No 8 shirt from the returning Luke Narraway, but also gained the captaincy.

"I wasn't really expecting the captaincy after three games," said Delve.

"But I was pretty happy with my form in the London Irish game and as far as I was concerned, that should be my worst performance of the season. It was my first game after six-and-a-half months – and now I would hope to get better in every game.

"The coaches have given me a huge vote of confidence by starting me in the three games so far, keeping me at No 8 and giving me the captaincy. That was such a huge honour, it was unbelievable."

Delve puts his flying start to life back in the Gloucester side down to his mental approach to the injury and rehabilitation he went through.

"There's a huge mental side to being out for six months – if anything, it's as big as the physical nature of the injury," he said.

"You've got to put the work in and do the rehab, but you've got guys who sit over you and make sure you put that time into your training.

"But with the mental side of it, you can dwell on what's been taken away from you and the six months of your career you've lost – or you can say, 'I don't want to waste any time when I get back and I'm going to dive straight back into it'. That's the approach I took."

Delve is expected to keep his place in the Gloucester side for Saturday's clash with Bath, the club where he spent seven years of his career after leaving Colston's School in Bristol.

He is one of a crew of former Bath players on Gloucester's books, with Olly Barkley, Gareth Cooper, Iain Balshaw and Mike Tindall also having spent time at the Recreation Ground.

"It's always a massive occasion with the local derby nature – and now both of us are sat up near the top of the table as well," said Delve.

"There's a huge amount riding on it, and from a personal point of view it's always nice to play against a lot of old mates. When we beat them at Kingsholm last season, it was one of the most physical games I have ever played in."

Delve left Bath at the end of the 2006-07 season, head coach Steve Meehan and forwards coach Mark Bakewell's first campaign in charge.

And he recognises that their style of play has developed considerably in the past two seasons, moving away from a forward-orientated game and progressing to an all-encompassing attacking style.

"Steve and Mark were only just putting their mark on the team when I was there – and at times we'd still revert to type when games got tight," said Delve.

"But at the moment it's a 15-man game. It's almost like the Dutch football team – everyone's doing everything! It's fantastic to watch and I think the guys deserve a lot of credit."

Gloucester are closing in on a deal to sign Leicester's Fijian centre Seru Rabeni.

The 30-year-old, who has 26 caps for his country and a further nine for the Pacific Islands, is set to move to Kingsholm at the end of the season. Rabeni has scored 18 tries in 62 appearances since joining Leicester from Otago Highlanders in 2004.