Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards has admitted there was no chance of England number eight Nick Easter being rested for Saturday's win over Worcester Warriors.

The 29-year-old has been named by Brian Ashton to make his second start of the Six Nations campaign against France on Saturday, despite being pressed in to club duty seven days ahead of the clash.

Easter, who has only just shrugged off the effects of a niggling knee injury, limped off during England's narrow win against Italy in Rome.

But while many Guinness Premiership rivals took the opportunity to rest their internationals, Richards revealed it was never a consideration with his side looking to end a run of one win in 13 matches.

"It was a case of whether he was fit to play for us or not," he said. "We made a late call on him - he said he was fit, so he played.

"If he wasn't right we wouldn't have played him, but he came through okay."

Richards' main complaint on Saturday was that Quins did not beat Worcester by a greater margin.

"It was frustrating because we created so many opportunities, but the final pass didn't quite finish it off," he added.

"We were sitting and wondering how Worcester were still in it with 20 minutes to go. We could have had 15 to 20 more points on the board."