The enthusiasm is unmistakable, even down a telephone line. Ben Cohen has taken a new lease of life, in both a rugby and a personal sense, and England could yet be the beneficiary. Not that he will be in Paris this weekend when England face France in the RBS Six Nations Championship - Cohen has other fish to fry, for his new club, Brive, against Toulouse in the Top 14.

It has been 15 months since the wing won the last of his 57 England caps, a period in which he was relegated with Northampton, the club for whom he played for 13 years before leaving in September. The rights and wrongs of his departure were wrangled over at the time, but the essence of it, for Cohen, was that he had become stale.

So to hear Simon Gillham, the joint chief executive of Brive, say that “Ben has made a huge impact, way beyond our expectation” is to understand that Cohen, only 29 and the scorer of 31 England tries, is not ready to be written out of the international arena. The England management know this: they have kept tabs on Steve Thompson, the 2003 World Cup hooker, who joined Brive last summer, but Cohen is the player making French waves.

Thompson, forced to retire from rugby with a neck injury only to return when two French specialists gave him the all-clear, is still working on his match fitness even though he reappeared - as a flanker - late last autumn when Brive, hard pressed by injuries, played in the European Challenge Cup. There are hopes that he will resume next month.

Cohen, twice at centre, has made a significant contribution to Brive edging clear of the foot of the Top 14 table. Twice he has been man of the match, twice he has been named in France's “team of the week”, nominated by local media. Last Saturday, he played against Aurélien Rougerie, the France wing, as Brive lost 11-9 to high-flying Clermont Auvergne.

“I would love to play for England still,” Cohen said from his home, just outside Brive, where he, his wife, Abby, their twins and their horse have relocated. “I'm in good shape and, more importantly, I'm enjoying myself. I've enjoyed having a new challenge - that was the main thing about leaving Northampton.

“I had become stale and I had to prove myself all over again. Brive is somewhere I could make a difference. They are after world-class players, not journeymen.”

To that end, Brive brought in not only Cohen and Thompson but also Ben Johnston, another former England back, and Barry Davies, the former Wales full back. They also secured the services of Olivier Magne and Laurent Seigne as coaches, together with Dave Ellis, the Yorkshireman, who has been so successful as defence coach with France, but much of their recruitment happened after this season started, hence their sluggish entry into league competition.

So a season earning his corn the hard way will do Cohen no harm.

“I hope someone is watching back home,” he said, steering clear of any comparison between himself and Lesley Vainikolo, the present occupant of the No11 jersey in which Cohen spent so much of his England career. He will note the starting XV for the meeting with France on Saturday evening that will be named today by Brian Ashton, the England head coach, and then concentrate on Brive's hopes of upsetting Toulouse, the Top 14 leaders, on Friday.

Shane Geraghty, the London Irish centre, will play no part in this weekend's international. He was assessed yesterday by England's medical team after a hyperextension of his left knee against Leicester on Sunday and will have a scan today, under his club's auspices, to verify the damage.

Marc Lièvremont, the France coach, will confirm today whether Dimitri Yachvili goes straight into the side to play England. Yachvili, the Biarritz scrum half, was called into the squad after Jean-Baptiste Elissalde strained his right calf muscle. France have also lost Julien Brugnaut, the prop, to a shoulder injury and his place goes to Jean-Baptiste Poux.