Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards believes England head coach Brian Ashton faces a scrum-half selection headache ahead of next weekend's Six Nations clash in France.

Veteran number nine Andy Gomarsall tweaked his back in the narrow 23-19 over Italy in Rome at the weekend, which also saw clubmate Nick Easter limp off with a sore knee.

Quins understudy Danny Care - playing alongside team-mates Adrian Jarvis and Tom Guest - impressed for the Saxons in their 38-15 triumph over the Azzurri second string 24 hours earlier.

Care, 20, has forced his way ahead of his 33-year-old rival Gomarsall in the Stoop pecking order over the past six weeks, after recovering from an early-season ankle injury.

And Richards, who three weeks ago rated Care in his country's top five, thinks it could be only a matter of time before he does the same at international level.

"It is difficult to see him being anywhere other than in the top two or three scrum-halves in the country on the weekend's evidence, but it is not for me to say who should be in the team," Richards said.

"It is up to the coaches and it depends on what they are looking for, but I would think the impact he made coming off the bench will have done his chances no harm at all.

"Adrian was outstanding at the weekend, but all our Saxons boys played very, very well, with Tom Guest and Danny linking up well again as they have done for their club."

Care's second-half introduction on Saturday tipped the balance for the Saxons, who eased to victory after being held to a 10-8 lead at the break.

The fast-maturing youngster had a direct hand in two tries, while Jarvis collected the man-of-the-match award with a faultless kicking display for a 13-point haul.

The 24-year-old number 10 paid tribute to the players in front of him, before hailing the efforts of his Quins team-mates, including try scorer Guest.

"We did what we set out to do - we tied them in and our fitness showed in the second half," Jarvis said.

"We got such good ball from the pack, it was awesome.

"When Danny came on, he was very quick off the base and looked dangerous.

"With Tom at number eight, we all knew each other and it was nice to play together.

"It was great that all the Quins boys put in good performances. Tom had a great game and Will Skinner played well when he came on, too."