Wasps' 17-15 success at Bath took them top of the league and served notice they could once again challenge for domestic honours following a season without silverware last term.

Wasps followed up victory over Harlequins at Twickenham by hanging on with 14 men after their England prop Tim Payne was sent off.

Payne received two yellow cards for separate scrum offences in the closing stages of a match Bath would have drawn had fly-half Ryan Davis not missed a touchline conversion attempt with the game's final kick.

Referee Chris White played almost 20 minutes of second-half injury time, and Bath number eight Ben Skirving's last-gasp try looked as though it might sting Wasps.

But the visitors showed tremendous resolve and defensive commitment under pressure to seal the deal.

“We are ecstatic,” said rugby director Hanks. “Not many visiting teams will win down here. We have achieved what we wanted to.”

Wasps played much of the attacking rugby in glorious conditions at the Recreation Ground, with wing Tom Varndell following up his try double against Quins with another brace, while David Lemi also touched down.

But it was Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson who really caught the eye, playing havoc with the Bath defence and helping to create both of Varndell's touchdowns, the second after he made a 60-metre break.

Hanks added: “Joe's talents are fairly obvious. He is maturing nicely. Some of his kicking game was really good today, and he is nailing the core roles of a scrum-half. He has still got a long way to go, but he is developing nicely.”

Simpson, 21, is currently in the England Saxons squad, but if he continues his rapid rate of progress then full Test honours could come sooner rather than later.

Wasps triumphed despite fly-half Danny Cipriani missing four kicks at goal from five attempts, but not even the late departure of Payne could knock Wasps out of their stride.

Bath have now suffered successive league defeats, and head coach Steve Meehan admitted his players must become smarter with their decision-making.

“We only played well for 30 minutes. It is a question of application,” he said. “We know we can play, we have got the talent here, but we have got to sustain it for 80 minutes. It was a much better performance than last week, but it still wasn't good enough.”

Meehan admitted he was baffled why Bath were not awarded a penalty try as they exerted relentless scrum pressure during the closing stages, adding: “I will look forward to hearing the explanation of why we didn't get one.

“The fact that Wasps scored three tries was a very disappointing aspect of our game. We just have to be a bit smarter.”