Chris Peddy
BBC Sport, London and South East

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Harlequins are set to welcome back Marcus Smith for Sunday's London derby against Saracens, with senior coach Jason Gilmore saying it will be "huge" to have a man he describes as the team's "quarterback" on the pitch.

The 26-year-old England fly-half has not played for his club side yet this season after representing the British and Irish Lions on their tour of Australia in the summer.

Saracens have started the new Prem season with two big wins and are top of the table, while Quins have suffered consecutive defeats and have picked up just a sole losing bonus point against Bath on the opening day.

Harlequins completed the double over their city rivals last season, however.

"It's huge for us [to have Smith back]. He's our quarterback, he's our guy. He's a British Lion. He loves playing for Quins. He loves playing at The Stoop," Gilmore told BBC Radio London.

"The energy and confidence that he brings to the other boys, when you sit in the dressing room and Smithy's in there, you definitely get a boost."

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James O'Connor is the master of rugby union reinvention.

By the 35-year-old's own count, Leicester Tigers are getting version number "five or six" of the one-time Australian boy wonder, who went rogue before rebuilding his career to find rugby redemption.

"I never thought I'd come back to the UK to play rugby," O'Connor admitted while speaking to BBC Radio Leicester.

"When I thought about the options I had on the table and where my footy was going, this is the one that excited me the most - to come back here and give my best to English rugby, which I felt like hadn't been done."

O'Connor, who was seen as a "once-in-a-generation talent" when he broke through to make his debut for Australia at the age of 18, has had two previous spells in England's top-flight competition.

The first was with London Irish in 2013 - a point in his career where he was effectively exiled to play in Europe after a string of off-field incidents had prompted the Australian Rugby Union to terminate his contract.

He then bounced between the Queensland Reds and French club Toulon before another stint in the Prem with Sale Sharks.

And after that he returned home to Australia (again) to try to reclaim his Wallabies spot - something he did after five years in the international wilderness.

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