London Irish new signing Shane Geraghty hoping to get back in England picture

Shane Geraghty declared he has “unfinished business” with club and country after revealing that Brian Smith’s plans for London Irish persuaded him to cut short his lucrative spell in France.
After being accused of financial greed when he left London Irish to go to Northampton Saints three years ago, it is not without a certain irony that Geraghty took a huge pay cut to return to the Exiles from Brive, who he had joined last season.
Originally the 25-year-old fly-half intended to stay in France for another year but a phone call from Smith was all it took for Geraghty to return to his boyhood club.
And in his first interview since rejoining Irish, Geraghty told The Rugby Paper that he is confident that Smith can help end his three-year international exile.
He said: “In a way it’s nice to come back with unfinished business.
“It means a lot for me to be able to play for the club and I can appreciate that a bit more now and work hard to do something this year.
“Basically I wasn’t looking to come back to England until Smithy phoned me up and then I re-assessed my goals for the next couple of years.
“I was thinking maybe one more year in France and then possibly coming back. But when Smithy called it just seemed like an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up.
“When Brian was here the first time, he rebuilt the club and I was part of that the first season when we finished third, and that led on to other things.
“He just said that London Irish are going to be a different side next year. He didn’t have to say too much because I had played with him at England and played with him here so I knew what his vision would be.
“Nowadays a lot of players play representative rugby from London Irish and the target of mine, in years to come, was to play for England so coming back to Irish was probably a good way of forcing my way back.
“It does seem like a long time since I played for England and a lot has changed and a lot of managers have come and gone.
“A big point in me coming back was to be in the England set-up so, hopefully, I’ll be able to meet up with Stuart Lancaster when they come back from the South African tour.”
In some ways little seems to have changed at Irish as the blond-haired, blue-eyed Geraghty bounds into their Sunbury training base with Smith at the helm.
But, in reality, a lot has happened.
Toby Booth and Mike Catt, who were so upset by Geraghty’s move to Northampton, have moved on and the fly-half himself is no longer the whipper-snapper who so thrilled Twickenham on his England debut in 2007.
In his place is a more matured, rounded individual who, at 25, will be one of a handful of fly-halves who will be reaching their peak at the 2015 World Cup.
But while Geraghty has not featured for the national side since leaving Irish, he has no regrets over his decision to become a vilified Saint.
“From my part I was trying to come with no baggage, just to get on with it. The past is the past,” he said.
“I think all players get a bit of stick for not playing well and making decisions that people do not agree with.
“When any player leaves a club, especially a homegrown one, then some people aren’t going to be happy.
“I moved to Northampton and was involved in a Heineken Cup final, semi-final and a Premiership semi-final so in terms of improving my rugby it was a strong club and I experienced a lot there to help my rugby.
“People around me say that I have matured a little bit and with age you get a bit of experience and you try and learn from your mistakes. I’m engaged now and so my life is maybe a bit more settled.
“I’m just looking forward to getting back into the Premiership. You look at the players we have in the backline, and the new signings coming in and when you look around the Premiership I think that’s a backline that can play some rugby.”