Worcester 17 Bath 34: Andrew Higgins admits his first Guinness Premiership hat-trick may not be enough to retain the Bath No 11 shirt for Saturday's clash with London Irish at the Recreation Ground.

The former Worcester and Bristol winger has struggled with a knee problem this season and Joe Maddock and Matt Banahan have commanded the wing berths.

Higgins would probably not have made the starting line-up had Banahan, full-back Nick Abendanon and centre Alex Crockett not been laid low with a sickness bug.

But, with Bath missing 12 players in all, he took his chance with both hands and clinched the bonus point when diving over in second-half injury-time.

"We will have to wait and see. I will have to work hard in training next week and see where we are," said Higgins.

"It is really tough at the moment at Bath. There's Matt Banahan, Nick Abendanon, Joe Maddock, Michael Stephenson – everyone is playing well.

"That's what you want, but you also want to be starting every week. I wouldn't say the competition brings out the best (in you) but it makes you aware that you have to keep yourself in tip-top condition."

Much like a goal poacher in football, Higgins believed he was in the right place at the right time to claim his hat-trick.

Worcester laid the first try on a plate for him, 21-year-old fly-half Joe Carlisle firing a long pass which Higgins plucked out of the air before racing three-quarters the length of the field and holding off Marcel Garvey's challenge to score.

Higgins added: "I was lucky with the interception try. Marcel caught me pretty easily but I managed to wriggle away from him.

"The guys put the other tries on a plate for me. All I had to do was fall over the line.

"Butch (James) put the second one over the top of the defence and good hands and good strength from Joey (Maddock) set up the last one. I was in the right place at the right time."

Despite missing a dozen players due to injuries, illness, international call-ups, suspension, Bath stuck to their high-risk, high-reward game plan of offloads and short forward drives. It wasn't easy at times – or good to watch for the travelling Bath contingent in the Sixways crowd.

The team tried to play their way out of their own 22 in heavy conditions, but often during the first half Bath failed to reach the halfway line before gifting possession back to their opponents.

James opened the scoring with an 11th-minute penalty then Higgins crossed for his interception try three minutes later. James converted.

But, in an entertaining game, Worcester hit back with tries from full-back Chris Latham and centre Loki Crichton. Carlisle hit both conversions to make it 14-0 at half-time. However, after the break, all the hosts could claim was a Willie Walker penalty, as the second period belonged to Bath.

Higgins went over thanks to a looping pass from James on 44 minutes, the South African adding the extras.

The visitors' defence was equal to anything – counterattacks, breaks or kicks – Worcester threw at them.

And, following Walker's introduction from the bench, Bath took advantage of the unfamiliarity in the Warriors midfield to clinch the win.

Shontayne Hape, in his best game for Bath since switching from rugby league last summer, skipped out of Crichton's attempted tackle and sent Maddock over the whitewash after drawing Latham. James converted.

Worcester refused to throw in the towel and probably deserved a losing bonus point but had to settle for nothing.

Bath completed the win in the sixth minute of injury-time, when great handling skills by the three-quarters created enough space for Higgins to crash over in the corner. James converted to complete a 100 per cent kicking record from four conversions and two penalties on a very good day for Bath.

Although they remain fourth, the win leaves them only five points behind leaders Gloucester with two games in hand, and they face second-placed Irish and Gloucester in their next two matches.

Worcester: C Latham (A Grove 75); R Gear, D Rasmussen, L Crichton, M Garvey; J Carlisle (W Walker 57), R Powell (M Powell 57); M Mullan, A Lutui (C Fortey 71), T Taumoepeau (D Morris 75), G Rawlinson (C Gillies 78), W Bowley, T Wood (N Talei 57), P Sanderson (capt), K Horstmann.

Scorers: Tries – Latham, Crichton. Cons: Carlisle 2. Pen – Walker.

Bath: J Maddock; M Stephenson, S Hape (T Cheeseman 80), E Fuimaono-Sapolu (S Berne 80), A Higgins; B James, M Claassens (capt, S Bemand 73); D Flatman, P Dixon (R Hawkins 79), D Bell (A Jarvis 73), J Harrison, S Hooper, A Beattie, J Scaysbrook (C Goodman 79), D Browne (J Faamatuainu 58).

Scorers: Tries – Higgins 3, Maddock. Cons – James 4. Pens – James 2

Referee: D Richards (Berkshire). Att: 10,096