JAMES O’Connor is a better footballer now than when he left Australia 17 months ago but his best position is wing, not No. 10.

So says former Wallaby and Toulon teammate Matt Giteau, who saw a dramatic transformation of O’Connor in exile in the south of France last year and is convinced he’s a changed man.

O’Connor will make his return to the Australian rugby ranks tonight when he runs out at five-eighth for the Queensland Reds against the Highlanders in Dunedin.

It will be his first Super Rugby game since July 2013, a few months before O’Connor departed Australia under a cloud of controversy when an airport fracas in Perth exhausted the ARU’s thin patience.

media_camera James O'Connor at Queensland Reds training.

The talented young Test star subsequently played seasons for London Irish and Toulon, and credited his time away with helping him mature as a person and a professional.

Giteau, who is back in Australia rehabbing a groin injury, said O’Connor has learned from his mistakes, and importantly, the consequences.

“I think you are going to see an even better player than what he was. While he always had that potential, I think mentally he is that much better place too,” Giteau told The Daily Telegraph.

“For me he went through that experience where he wasn’t wanted really by any of the Super Rugby clubs, and that would centre anyone and bring them back down.

“Being away for a year, the opportunity you had really shines out and it shows what you missed out on and could have had if you’re back in Australia.

“That hunger is back for him, and as a bloke he has matured enormously. He gelled with the group really well, he trained hard and applied himself really hard. I was really impressed with him.”

O’Connor will wear the Reds No. 10 against the Highlanders in Dunedin, reprising the role he played for the Wallabies in the 2013 series defeat against the Lions.

The move is more by necessity than choice, with Quade Cooper injured and Karmichael Hunt stood down due to drug charges, but Giteau believes O’Connor’s strongest position is further out in the backline.

media_camera Matt Giteau of Toulon.

“I think he knows that too, 10 is probably not where he wants to be. He is actually a really good winger,” Giteau said.

“I don’t know if that’s the best position he enjoys most but every time he plays there, he plays well.

“He is fit, he is quick, he is strong, he is safe under the high ball, he’s reliable. He ticks all the right boxes as far as that’s concerned, and he has a roving kind of commission when he’s on the wing. When we played on the wing at Toulon, he had his best games.”

Giteau, who has become a massive star in France after taking Toulon to successive Heineken Cup titles, is training at home for the next month after undergoing surgery on an injured groin. He is working with former Brumbies physio Tim McGrath, who now runs the Elite Rehab and Sports facility in Canberra.