Guiness Premiership / Ralph Ellis / 11 September 2009 / Leave a comment

"A half-full Wembley won’t generate the atmosphere Saracens want, so moving away from home comforts might just backfire - and somewhere between the current back/lay spread of [2.28] to [2.7] looks a tempting bet."

Professional sport is selfish. Oh yes, it's all about team work and spirit, getting your dressing room to work together, everybody united for a common purpose. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, everybody has to look after their own career.

And that's never more true than when a top international gets injured. You can allow about 30 seconds, maybe even a minute, for sympathy. But then somebody is going to be thinking: "Hang on, here's a chance for me."

That somebody this morning is Northampton new boy Shane Geraghty, with one eye firmly on the number 12 shirt that's been left vacant because Riki Flutey needs surgery on a shoulder injury. The ink bearing the bad news about his former London Irish team-mate had barely dried on yesterday's paper before Geraghty was working out what it might mean for him.

"There is a bit of an opening at 12 for England and that is a goal for me," the 23-year-old tells this morning's Daily Mirror. "I'm confident I can get back playing good rugby, then it's up to Martin Johnson."

Now perhaps you can't blame the talented fly-half come centre for grabbing the main chance. After all he was emerging as a big potential England star himself two years ago before his own injury problems began. Since he starred against France in his debut two years ago when he came off the bench with brilliant effect, he's not started a single international because of a succession of injuries. So if he's fit now then there's all the more motivation to grab his chance.

After all, he turned down lucrative offers to move to France in the summer simply because he was determined to revive his international career. "I'm 22, I've got three caps and I've never started for England - my best shot at doing that was to stay here," he's said.

Like Jonny Wilkinson, Geraghty's injuries owe a lot to his committed style of play, never ducking a tackle defensively as well as dashing forward in attack. And he's also insisting he won't change that, maintaining:

"People say I shouldn't take it to the line so much or go into contact so much, but that's the way I play and I'm not going to change."

Geraghty will be trying to show that and take centre stage tomorrow when Northampton face Saracens in the latest rugby union match to switch to a prestige venue. After the Twickenham double header of the opening weekend, it's Wembley that's the venue for this one as Saracens' marketing people try to attract new support.

It looks like being a success for the money men, with a crowd of around 40,000. But that won't be quite so good for the team because a half-full Wembley won't generate the atmosphere wanted, so moving away from home comforts might just backfire - and somewhere between the current back/lay spread of [2.28] to [2.7] looks a tempting bet.
　

Five things you might not know about Shane Geraghty

1. Born in Coventry in August 1986, he went to the posh Bablake School
2. Elder brother James was considered a better rugby player until he broke his knee playing. He's now a lawyer
3. His father had moved to England from County Mayo in his teams, meaning Shane was qualified to play for Ireland, but Mike Catt convinced him to turn down an early approach and wait to try to play for England
4. Grabbing a chance because Riki Flutey is injured is nothing new - that's how he got his first chance to play for London Irish
5. He's a keen poker player and has appeared in several celebrity TV tournaments

Tags: Guinness Premiership Betting, Northampton, Ralph Ellis, Rugby Union Betting, Shane Geraghty, Srarcens