Steve Meehan is an American acoustic guitarist who belts out Sting and Eric Clapton covers for a living on the Chesapeake Bay circuit in Maryland, USA.

But if you look a little closer on Google, you will find another Steve Meehan.

This one is the Australian rugby coach who arrived at Bath in July 2006, accompanied by a chorus of ''Steve who?''

Even if he had pitched up playing a didgeridoo and singing 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport,' it is doubtful the Bath faithful would have taken too much notice.

Almost two years on though, Meehan is close to topping the charts.

Bath have not won a trophy since 1998, when they became the first English club to be crowned European champions, blazing a trail that was followed by Northampton, Leicester and Wasps.

They have subsequently appeared in four finals - Guinness Premiership, Powergen Cup and European Challenge Cup (twice) - but lost the lot, to Wasps, Leeds, Wasps again and Clermont Auvergne.

There was a time when the prospect of any Bath team losing a final - even their under-10s on a Sunday morning in Shepton Mallet - was unthinkable.

It just didn't happen, as the record books prove between 1984 and 1996 when Bath won the domestic knockout cup 10 times, while also securing six league titles.

But rugby union's professional era hardly swept Bath along with it.

Yes, Bath reached the 2004 Guinness Premiership final, yet they also flirted dangerously with relegation in 2002 and 2003, and the last two league campaigns produced distinctly average ninth and eighth-placed finishes.

Probably only Meehan's nearest and dearest would have given him a hope of guiding Bath back into the Premiership's top half, let alone establishing them as a major force again.

What he has done though, is quite remarkable.

Wasps supporters might want to look away now, but Bath are currently playing the best rugby in England just when it matters - at the season's business end.

Meehan's men are closing in on the Premiership crown and European Challenge Cup. Current form suggests it is advisable not to bet against them landing that notable trophy double.

Just a few seasons ago, Bath played rugby of such mind-numbing boredom that you needed to buy a flask of coffee with your match programme in order to stay
awake.

It was mainly prehistoric rugby pre-Meehan, but the former Stade Francais assistant coach has not so much awoken English rugby's sleeping giant, but booted it out of bed kicking and screaming.

Anyone who has witnessed Bath's often exhilarating performances since Christmas would have observed players and coaches - Meehan's assistants Mark Bakewell and Brad Davis also deserve great credit - operating on totally the same wavelength.

The ability to off-load at pace with pinpoint accuracy before taking contact has guided Bath's game to a new level - and that is just the front-five!

There cannot be a more efficient ball-handling hooker or tighthead prop than Lee Mears and Matt Stevens operating anywhere in Europe at present, while giant lock Danny Grewcock - 36 next birthday - is currently playing as well, if not better, than at any time during his 69-cap England career.

Elsewhere, openside flanker Michael Lipman is thriving on the back of consistent England recognition during this season's RBS 6 Nations Championship, and Bath's South African half-backs Butch James and Michael Claassens are masters of putting their team in the right areas.

Bath have also shown they can win games in any number of ways.

The Gloucester forwards floundered on a filthy January night at the Recreation Ground, battered into submission by a Bath pack whose technical excellence underpinned an exceptional victory, before Bath showcased their thrilling attacking game through running recent opponents Leicester and Sale Sharks ragged.

Recently-appointed England manager Martin Johnson looked on at the Recreation Ground last Saturday as Bath took the wind out of Challenge Cup semi-final opponents Sale with a breathtaking first-half display.

It was the kind of rugby England last produced pre-2003 World Cup, but a style they could nurture once again, given the presence of personnel like Mears, Stevens, Danny Cipriani and Shane Geraghty.

Maybe England, currently in the market for an attack coach specialist, need Meehan to help make it all possible.

Johnson witnessed first-hand last weekend just how devastating rugby played the Meehan way can be.

Meehan might have arrived in the west country as Mr Anonymous, but he is now making a name for himself as quickly as Bath are rediscovering themselves.

England, and Johnson in particular, would be foolish not to take note.