Danny Care will be drafted back into the Harlequins team for their sell-out 55,000 Twickenham clash with Leicester on Saturday after he was rested for the disappointing 23-13 defeat at Northampton.

Dean Richards, the Quins director of rugby, decided to leave out Care as the deal with the Rugby Football Union over England players means they have to be given a break. Andy Gomarsall stepped into the No9 role but got himself sent to the sin bin early in the second-half.

"We had to rest Danny at some stage as he's part of the Elite Squad," said Richards. "We felt this was the right day to do it, as it has been a bruising few weeks.

"I think we looked a bit tired. We've had some very difficult games and we didn't perform to the best of our ability. I don't think we were in control first-half. Both sides didn't play well."

Quins also had hooker Tani Fuga sin-binned and will be looking to keep all 15 players on the pitch when the biggest crowd in their Premiership history turns up at Twickenham. An early try from Ugo Monye hinted at the pace and power Quins can unleash and they are sixth - but only two points away from third place.