STEVE MEEHAN was delighted as his Bath "overachievers" charged to the top of the Guinness Premiership table with a bonus-point victory at champions Wasps.

Bath scored four tries en route to a hugely impressive 27-23 win at Adams Park as Danny Cipriani's return from a serious ankle injury ended in defeat.

Michael Claassens, the exceptional Matt Stevens, Pieter Dixon and Joe Maddock all crossed as Bath secured their second successive try-scoring bonus point.

They have won four of their five matches so far this season and have taken 19 points from a possible 25 to sit proudly on top of the table – where they will remain for at least six weeks due to the break for Anglo-Welsh and European competition. And head coach Meehan admitted his side had exceeded even his expectations so far.

"We talk about phases in our season and as a result of tonight we have probably overachieved," said Meehan. "We have ticked all the boxes as far as our objectives are concerned. It was a terrific game, a terrific advertisement for rugby and we are delighted with the result.

"What matters is that we went out with the intent to play and we stuck to our guns – and then when we had to, we defended manfully.

"And we can't slip positions for a number of weeks now, so that's a good thing!"

Bath do not play again in the Premiership until Leicester – Saturday's opponents in the EDF Energy Cup – visit the Rec on November 15.

Fly-half Cipriani had dominated the pre-match headlines, with Meehan saying: "In fact, we were probably the only people who didn't talk about him."

And the England man featured in one of the more controversial moments of the game, seeing his penalty attempt ruled out by referee Sean Davey despite both touch judges signalling that it had been successful.

Wasps coach Sean Edwards said: "We are pretty angry with what happened – both touch judges gave the goal and the referee overruled it. I have never seen that before.

"Having said that, there is no doubt that Bath played very well."