Bath Rugby have not often been in a fight on two fronts at this stage of the season for several years – and prop Paul James believes it is a measure of how fortune has changed at The Rec this term.
A place in the Aviva Premiership play-offs is still in Bath's hands with just four games to go in the regular season, despite a setback against fellow top-four hopefuls Sale Sharks last Friday.
West Country rivals Exeter Chiefs have already snapped up the LV= Cup but Mike Ford's men could have been on for a trophy treble had it not been for a semi-final defeat against the eventual champions on home soil.
James has avoided many of Bath's lean years – having signed for the club in 2012 – and insists the culture he stepped into at The Rec was far from a losing one.
With a European quarter-final next up against Brive on Sunday, the Wales international tighthead is convinced this season's renaissance is no false dawn.
"Success in Europe would mean a lot to everyone involved at Bath. Every game you play for the club is important and after losing in the LV= Cup it would be special to do it," said James.
"It's going to be a massive challenge against Brive. If you look at their win last week against Clermont, they are no mugs. We will have to be on the top of our game.
"When I signed here two years ago the ambition from everyone at the club, saying they wanted to get back to the top half of the table, you could tell they really believed it could happen.
"Meeting all the guys and the hard work we've put in together since then, the building blocks were put in place last year.
"What the club has now done is to recruit more youngsters who they knew could break through and make a difference.
"Henry Thomas is also coming in next season, so I'm sure whatever happens this year we'll only get stronger."
The first priority for James is to make sure Bath's recent form is a blip rather than a rut after three defeats in their last four matches.
And the 31-year-old believes there is no use in playing the blame game, viewing their European adventure as the perfect way to set the record straight.
He said: "We were disappointed with the game against Sale, we pointed out a few issues that we can hopefully put right ready for this weekend.
"It was a scrappy game and could have gone either way but it was not meant to be on the day. It was not anyone's fault in particular and we're still in control for the top four in the Premiership and we know we can get a positive result against Brive."Every match in the Aviva Premiership rugby season is crucial. To be there to support your team buy your ticket from premiershiprugby.com/tickets.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
