The Samoan scrum half will partner fly half Andy Dunne at half back, while Ugo Monye has recovered from an ankle injury and starts on the right wing.

In the pack, Tony Diprose has yet to recover from a dislocated thumb he picked up in the pre-season friendly victory over Ulster (20th August), so Kai Hortsmann starts at number eight alongside captain Andre Vos and Ace Tiatia in the back row.

Tani Fuga has recovered from an eye injury he sustained against Ulster and starts at hooker, with Mike Worsley and Jon Dawson packing down alongside him in the front row.

Summer signings Maama Molitika and Jeremy Staunton are amongst the replacements.

Apart from Diprose, the other players unavailable for selection this weekend are Dafydd James (quad strain), George Harder (knee), Maurice Fitz Gerald (back), Joe Mbu (fractured hand) and Jim Evans (dislocated shoulder).

"Saturday promises to be a great occasion and everyone at Quins is really looking forward to the day," said NEC Harlequins Chief Executive Mark Evans. "We are feeling confident that we can get our season off to a winning start but are fully aware we will have to be at the top of our game and have to play with the same fighting spirit that we did at the end of last season."

"Fixtures against London Irish are always closely fought contests, with normally only a single score separating the sides at the final whistle. I can see no reason why Saturday's match will be any different."

The full team is as follows:

15. Gavin Duffy
14. Ugo Monye
13. Will Greenwood
12. Mel Deane
11. Simon Keogh
10. Andy Dunne
9. Steve So'oialo
1. Mike Worsley
2. Tani Fuga
3. Jon Dawson
4. Karl Rudzki
5. Simon Miall
6. Ace Tiatia
7. Andre Vos (Capt.)
8. Kai Hortsmann

Replacements:
16. James Hayter
17. Ceri Jones
18. Luke Sherriff
19. Roy Winters
20. Maama Molitika
21. Jeremy Staunton
22. Tom Williams