SHANE Geraghty is a man on a mission, hungry for success as he looks to lead London Irish back to English rugby’s top-flight and right the wrongs of last season’s Premiership relegation.

Exiles will kick-off life in the Greene King IPA Championship against Doncaster Knights on Saturday, September 3 and Geraghty insists a change of coaching personnel that has seen Brendan Venter arrive – where he will team up with Nick Kennedy, Clark Laidlaw, George Skivington, Declan Danaher and Paul Hodgson – has reinvented the club.

It’s not all doom and gloom at Irish, with expectations high of an immediate return to the Premiership after they retained the likes of World Cup winner Ben Franks, Topsy Ojo and Geraghty.

Exiles are far from taking the Championship lightly, with Geraghty admitting some huge tests await, but the former England man is convinced a positive season is firmly on the horizon for the Exiles.

“Training has been going really well, we have a new coaching team and we’re in a good place,” said Geraghty, speaking at the Greene King IPA Championship season launch at the St Margaret’s Tavern in Twickenham.

“It’s an enjoyable place to be at the moment, everybody is desperate to get going now and we’re excited about everything we can achieve this season.

“The new coaching team has refreshed the club, last season was so disappointing.

“The likes of Brendan, Nick, Declan and Paul are well respected and knowledgeable rugby voices.

“They know the club inside and out, we know what they have achieved at London Irish and they have helped the new players settle and refresh those that have remained.

“This is a new start, we’re refreshed, and last season has been and gone – we’ve erased it from our minds. It’s a huge year for the club.”

Geraghty (pictured) continued: “There’s a huge amount of belief at this club, we have retained some special and experienced players such as Ben Franks, we know the Championship is a tough league and we know how difficult it is to get out of with the play-off system.

“It is great some players have been very loyal to London Irish, we have recruited brilliantly as well but we will show a lot of respect to the Championship and the challenges that we face.

“It is going very well for us presently but we know how difficult our start to the season will be facing Doncaster.

"They had a really good season last time out, we have seen them play before and they are a tough side, it will not be an easy to experience life in the Championship.”

It would have been easy for the likes of Franks to turn his back on Irish and opt for a move to a top-flight club across Europe.

With 42 All Blacks caps, the World Cup winning prop is able to play on either side of the scrum and has won every honour available to him, including Rugby Championships and Tri Nations titles as well as being part of the 2013 unbeaten All Blacks side.

But while others have chosen to seek new challenges, Franks has decided to remain at Irish, help the Exiles rebuild and pass his wisdom on to the youngsters coming through the academy.

Geraghty said: “Having Ben around the squad is a huge lift to all of the players, you only have to look at what he has achieved in his career and the things he has won to understand the impact he has.

“He is hugely respected within the group and his professionalism is incredible. It’s great to have a player like him for the youngsters to look up to and with him deciding to stay has given everybody a real boost – it shows the commitment of the owners as well.

“The aim is to finish in the top two in the league and earn a home semi-final in the play-offs but you never know what will happen and we won’t be taking anything for granted.

“I know Brendan won’t let us get ahead of ourselves and the aim is very much to have that next-game focus.”

Formed in 2009, the Greene King IPA Championship is the second tier of professional rugby in England. To keep up to date with the latest news, follow @ChampRugby on Twitter.