Bath boss Steve Meehan is keeping a cool head about Saturday's Guinness Premiership showdown against Gloucester.

Meehan knows neither he nor his players can allow themselves to be carried away by the occasion at a sold-out Kingsholm.

While both clubs secured play-off places through impressive victories last weekend - Gloucester won at Wasps and Bath smashed Saracens - top spot and local bragging rights are now up for grabs.

It might conceivably be a dress-rehearsal for the Premiership final at Twickenham on May 31.

It could also be a classic, given the sides have have scored 123 Premiership tries and amassed more than 1,000 points between them this season.

Bath, especially, have wowed audiences in recent weeks with a thrilling brand of high-tempo rugby.

Saracens rugby director Alan Gaffney claimed Bath possessed the Premiership's best offloading game after his team finished on the receiving end of a nine-try battering, although perfectionist Meehan claims there is still work to be done.

He said: "It was nice to see things work last week and come off and enjoy the rugby, but it was not near perfection.

"I don't think anyone has completed the perfect performance yet on the rugby field, and we still have work to do.

"The players certainly have improved their skills and been encouraged to do so. We've got Brad Davis here in that (coaching) regard, and they are their own hard task-masters as well.

"Is it a difference between winning a trophy or not? We will have to see. It is just having the confidence to go out and use their skills and execute things they may not have had in the past.

"Obviously, we are as happy as anyone to see the hard work the guys put on the training paddock transferred on to the playing surface.

"On any given day, we can match and surpass anybody else in this competition.

"It is a question of just delivering on each day. Hopefully, we have three Premiership matches left, and hopefully, we can deliver in all three.

"It is a big ask, but the guys have got the confidence now to believe in themselves, in one another and the way that we are playing to be able to go out and give a good account of ourselves and, hopefully, do something.

"Obviously, we go up there (Gloucester) now as two sides at the right end of the table for a big local match.

"It is not a game I have been waking up with cold sweats over, but we are certainly going to enjoy it and it will certainly be intense, there is no doubt about that."

Gloucester or Bath have appeared in three of the five Premiership play-off finals, losing on each occasion, but there is a growing feeling throughout English rugby that either club could find the Twickenham winning formula in three weeks' time.

Meehan and his opposite number Dean Ryan can field potent attacking weapons right across the pitch, and both teams' approach continues to win widespread acclaim.

Meehan added: "Bath and Gloucester have come out and showed the majority of people how rugby can be played throughout the season.

"Just because the weather turns bad does not mean you have to go into your shell.

"I think both teams have proved that as they are up the top of the ladder in regards to tries scored, and a lot of them have been scored in different ways.

"Both clubs this season have done a lot for the Premiership.

"This will be a good way of finishing the regular season on Saturday. For this game, if you have a problem getting up for it, then you should not be playing

SportingLife / Eurosport