Ashton had hoped the entire starting line-up selected for next Saturdays RBS 6 Nations clash against Ireland in Dublin would be rested from this weekends league programme.

But Grewcock and six of his colleagues  Olly Morgan, Josh Lewsey, Andy Farrell, Jason Robinson, Joe Worsley and Magnus Lund  were due to come under starters orders before England assemble at their Bath University training base.

Grewcock scored a late try for Bath, but Irish had already done enough to win the game.

Bath head coach Steve Meehan admitted his side paid the price for their lacklustre first-half display  which meant he was forced to keep Grewcock on the pitch for the full 80 minutes.

Meehan said: In a perfect world we would have been able to replace him, but the situation meant we felt he needed to stay on the field.