Bath Rugby have confirmed that they have secured the signature of former Leicester Tigers and London Irish New Zealander Dan Bowden.

The 29-year-old, who can play at fly-half or at number 12, will increase Bath's options in the backline when England's George Ford and potentially Rhys Priestland of Wales participate in the Six Nations.

Bowden, who will arrive from Auckland Blues next month, could free up Priestland for international duty despite the Wales back initially being expected to take an 18-month sabbatical from Test rugby.

"Dan is a very intelligent player. From a 10/12 point of view, you want as many ball-players as you can," Bath coach Toby Booth told reporters.

"He is an obsessive sort of player. What I mean by that is he has a massive thirst for knowledge and thirst for the game, and he will drive people's preparation to be at the same standard as his. I think he's arriving in early January.

"We have got a lot of young backs, so the more we can fast-track their knowledge, then hopefully we can move the progression of the group that little bit better."

Bath currently sit seventh in the Aviva Premiership following a 21-14 victory over Worcester Warriors this afternoon.