Nick Easter was man of the match against Leicester © Getty Images

Enlarge

Harlequins Director of Rugby Conor O'Shea has backed Nick Easter for an England recall after the No.8's superb performance in the 32-12 win over Leicester at the Stoop on Saturday.

36-year-old Easter was named man of the match on his 250th appearance for Harlequins against Leicester. He made his last England appearance at the 2011 World Cup but O'Shea believes he should play a part at the 2015 event. O'Shea also confirmed that Easter had signed a two-year contract extension with the club.

Lawrence Dallaglio is another of the veteran back-rower's most vocal supporters after he produced a sumptuous offload for Danny care against Leicester.

"I've stopped speaking to [England head coach] Stuart Lancaster about Nick because I'm banging..... Nick wants to play for England," said O'Shea. "Look at that performance against Leicester and think about the Leinster games when he played against Jamie Heaslip.

"I know Stuart and we had a good, long chat about it last year. Stuart's worry has always been will he get to the World Cup with the ability to play at that intensity and pace? If he gets to the end of the season and he's still playing like that, England might take a look at him. No doubt in a few months' time he will more than ready.

"I've been very fortunate to have Nick at the club while I've been here. He's a warrior, a rugby player, and while he may be old school in some ways - he challenges - he plays rugby. He plays at a level very few people can - that offload wasn't just world class, it was out of this world. He tries things and never goes into his shell. The harder the going gets and the more we're under pressure, the better he plays. I said to him four years ago I'd stop playing him every week, but I can't stop playing him every week."

Harlequins have had a stop-start season but tries from Care, Jack Clifford, Marland Yarde and a last-gasp effort from replacement Tim Swiel leaves them just two points off the top four in a congested table.

"We played with ambition and we knew that this game was pretty important," O'Shea said. "We're right back in the mix and when we play like that, we're a tough team to play against. We have a mountain to climb, but we're coming. We needed a win like this to get us buzzing. We needed that win more than Leicester."

Leicester could only manage four penalties from fly-half Owen Williams and Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill has no complaint with the result.

"We didn't finish our opportunities and in the end we got what we deserved. It's disappointing because we got nothing out of the game and conceded four tries," he said.