England international Olly Barkley has underlined the major sea-change that has occurred at Bath in recent months by indicating he is ready to pledge his future to the club.

It was only seven months ago that senior players Steve Borthwick and David Barnes criticised the club's recruitment policy and lack of ambition - but Bath have since signed South Africa's World Cup-winning fly-half Butch James.

"What's going on around here at the moment is having a big bearing on my thoughts about where my own future lies beyond the end of this season," said Barkley. "We're playing attractive rugby at a high tempo and I'm really enjoying it."

He added: "There's a real buzz about the game for me and around the club.

"That's a huge factor for me. If you enjoy your rugby, you'll enjoy life.

"We cannot afford to rest on our laurels and must keep building the squad so that if we have injuries we've got the cover, because that's the difference between teams that win trophies and teams that don't.

"I think Bath could be an interesting place to be over the next couple of years."