David Beckham will be proud, Marcus! Smith's boot inspires Harlequins to victory over Saracens - as fly-half's meeting with ex-England captain pays off on his comeback after Lions tour

Over the course of his summer holidays, Marcus Smith ventured into London to spend a morning with David Beckham. One cultured right boot meets another.

Who knows if England’s iconic midfielder was watching PREM's derby weekender but if he was then he would have appreciated the way Smith kicked Saracens to death.

This was not a trademark Harlequins performance. They ripped up their run-it-from-anywhere mindset and peppered Saracens with contestable kicks in Quins' 20-14 triumph on Sunday.

Smith, on his first appearance since the Lions tour, led the tactical ambush where the league’s great entertainers booted one third of their possession into the blue London skies.

The fly-half presented Beckham with one of his England jerseys when they met last month. George Ford and Fin Smith have spent more time in England’s No 10 shirt this year but this display of adaptability will give Steve Borthwick some food for thought ahead of the autumn.

‘He’s a British Lion and his job in our team is to give us that game management,’ said Quins coach Jason Gilmore, who watched Smith gobble up metres with his kicks that were chased tirelessly by Rodrigo Isgro.

'When you talk about unconventional and Harlequins, unconventional doesn’t mean throwing your ball from the try-line. It’s something Nick Evans has been through. Was it Quins? I’m not sure but it was certainly a different way to win a game of football.

'I don't think it'll be something you'll see in our game regularly. We are Harlequins and we want to use the ball and we want to be scoring four tries a game. That's our DNA. Smithy took the lead and we wanted to bring Rodrigo into the game more with his skill.’

The tactical switch booked Harlequins a third consecutive victory over their London rivals. However, they must be wary of letting this become a result that defines their season. Quins have been a topsy-turvy club of late and this could be the victory to kick-start their campaign.

Smith’s bombs landed perfectly, bamboozling the Saracens’ back three, with the likes of Max Malins and Jack Bracken coming under heavy fire. All in all, Smith scored 15 of his side’s points, starting with a hitch-kicked try in the ninth-minute, sticking out his tongue as he dived over.

Chandler Cunningham-South ruffled Owen Farrell’s hair after he belted Tom Willis in the tackle. And the home crowd jeered in delight when Farrell uncharacteristically fumbled one of Smith’s high balls on his own 22.

Saracens barely made their way into Quins’ territory, repeatedly pinned back in their own half. They had to settle for a long-range counter-strike score through Fergus Burke and a well-executed cross-field try through Ben Earl. Saracens will welcome back Maro Itoje last week and they missed his presence here, dropping off after their impressive start to the season.

At the scrum, Fin Baxter delivered a dominant performance for Harlequins, who secured the victory with a second-half try through Tyrone Green and a last-minute penalty from Smith.

‘I'd say we got what we deserved but we didn't because we got a losing bonus point,’ said Saracens coach Mark McCall. ‘Quins were by far the better team. They dominated territorially, had a very strong kicking game and we didn't cope well with it. That affected the rest of our game and the rest of our energy and intent.

‘Marcus kicked beautifully and put us under pressure. He put everything on the money and when it's properly contestable, it's very hard to be the person who is catching. They picked up a lot of the crumbs and the scraps when the ball went loose. Credit to them, they came with a plan and executed really well.

‘We probably didn't prepare the team in the way we should have for what came today and that's obviously the coaches' fault....my fault. We then lost intent in all the important things. It's not a performance we can be proud of.’