By James Standley

Hill says there are three main factors for Bristol's impressive start

Bristol boss Richard Hill has revealed that even he is surprised by their impressive start to the season.

After four games of the Premiership season unbeaten Bristol, who finished one off the bottom last year, are two points clear at the top of the table.

"We were hoping for as good a start as we had last year, where we won two out of the first five, but we've had a much better start," Hill told BBC Sport.

"We really have improved - we've made an unbelievable start."

Bristol, who play West Country rivals Bath in the EDF Cup on Sunday, came from behind to beat Wasps last weekend.

They ran in four tries and Hill revealed that the work they put in with a French coach last season was beginning to pay dividends.

"I'm a great fan of the way Toulouse play," said Hill.

"We worked on our attacking game, counter-attacking, attacking the short side, keeping the ball off the floor, continuity, all that sort of stuff.

"We didn't put it into practice last season but we have been working on it for 12 months and we hoped it would come to fruition.

I think Bristol are on the verge of becoming a very big club consistently Bristol coach Richard Hill

"Last year our try-scoring rate was paltry, with 28 from 22 matches in the league, but we all knew underneath the surface we'd been doing months and months of hard work in the hope it would benefit us.

"Now, at the moment, I think we've scored more tries than anybody in the league and it looks like our try-scoring rate has been transformed dramatically."

Hill said the second factor behind their good start was the intensive pre-season fitness work they put in.

"Because we haven't got a load of stars we have to work harder and therefore we brought our players in for strength and conditioning work three weeks before any other Premiership side," he explained.

"We were in on 5 June, which meant we were in very good physical shape.

"I don't think it's any coincidence that our players at the moment are very, very fit and match hardened.

"That will even out as the season goes because everybody else will probably catch up, but it's meant we have got off to a very good start."

Hill also picked out the benefit of the extra experience his side has this season.

Last year many of the Bristol side were in their first year of top-flight rugby, and their greater knowledge of the demands of the game at the highest level means they are now more rounded players.

"It's been documented that our front five are the Dad's Army but for many of our other players it was their first year in the Premiership," said Hill.

Dan Ward-Smith joined Bristol from Division One side Plymouth Albion

"Sam Cox and Rob Higgitt in the centres, Lee Robinson on the wing, Shaun Perry at scrum-half, Dan Ward-Smith and Joe El-Abd in the back row - one year in they feel a little more confident.

"It's a combination of factors but the team work very hard together.

"We know we haven't got any major stars but they all pull together very well."

After several years of yo-yoing between the top two divisions, Hill thinks the once-dormant West Country giants are on the verge of establishing themselves at the top table of the English game.

"We've got some way to go yet because we're still in a relatively lowly position," said Hill.

"Although we're top of the league at the moment we've still got a long way to go to become a Leicester or a Wasps or a side like that.

"But at the moment it is quite an exciting period - I think Bristol are on the verge of becoming a very big club consistently."

They will be hoping to maintain their winning ways on Sunday, when they meet Bath in a West country derby in the EDF Cup.

Hill is not only an ex-Bath player, he also still lives in the town, in fact in the same road as his assistant coach Martin Haag, and he is relishing Sunday's encounter at The Memorial Ground.

"Last year we lost 26-10 to Bath at Bath in quite a thrilling game, although we did most of the defending," he said.

"I think we've improved a little bit from last year so I hope that we can give Bath a better game at our own ground - we should go into the game full of confidence.

"We'll be looking to get a good win so we can go back and have a quiet drink in a pub somewhere in Bath."