Rugby Union: No respite for those caught in the trap: Pears makes league comeback for Quins. Steve Bale on another punishing afternoon for England's top players

THIS is a day which will not make but could well break the title aspirations of those who trail behind Bath in the Courage Championship, another draining day when England's leading players must take their punishment. A day when they should not really be playing at all.

England went past the point of exhaustion against Scotland last Saturday and, international rugby being what it is, must do so again when the Irish come to Twickenham next Saturday. The last thing they need is to have to do it in between as well. Small wonder that Geoff Cooke, the England manager, is exercised at the potentially debilitating effect of this afternoon's First Division intrusion.

It is a question of priorities and the English timetable at this time of the year was not worked out with the national team in mind. If England's Five Nations aspirations count for most how can Gloucester v Bath and Wasps v Leicester, to take today's most obvious examples, count for so much?

Small wonder, too, that Cooke is casting an eye at the Welsh - not because of their unbeaten record but because, with the exception of Newbridge v Dunvant, there are no Heineken League First Division matches today.

Instead, Alan Davies's squad, themselves in between Ireland and France, trained together last night and will do so again twice today. This is not quite a lesson learned, since the week before the Ireland-Wales game Llanelli and Cardiff were knocking lumps out of each other, but it helps.

Where lies the greater good? In the shop window of course. Back to Cooke: 'They shouldn't have to go out and put their bodies on the line in the intervening weeks. What we haven't managed is to get some sense into the system, to find a way of matching different and sometimes conflicting demands within the limits of our season - and that's causing us problems.'

As this was said before the Scotland game, you can well imagine what Cooke is thinking now, and who can blame him? He wanted to tell his troops to take the day off but dared not, not publicly anyway, as he was not empowered so to do. The good news for the manager is that Ben Clarke is resting his elbow injury rather than play for the leaders at Kingsholm, though Bath's four other Murrayfield escapologists have no such leave of absence.

Tim Rodber, who may be back in the team to be named tomorrow, will not risk his healing hamstring for Northampton against Bristol. An England flanker of more remote vintage, the retired Peter Winterbottom, will help the injury- plagued Harlequins as a replacement against Newcastle Gosforth, David Pears returning at full-back for the first time since tearing knee ligaments in September.

Leicester visit Sudbury for a game they have to win to have any chance of making up the gap on Bath, even though that amounts to only two points. At the same time Wasps, in third position a further five points adrift but with a game in hand, are already out of realistic contention.

Leicester number Bath among their victims and a recent run of eight wins achieved through a combination of occasionally exquisite rugby and the unerring place-kicking of Jez Harris makes you wonder how on earth they contrived to lose to Northampton and Harlequins.

At 29, Harris has this season emerged sufficiently to become an England Emerging Player, receiving plaudits from his own camp and rubble from a spectator for scoring 26 points in Spain last Sunday. This would be championship form, by Harris and Leicester - but, inevitably, for Bath.