Brive said that the move, which will be completed this summer, was motivated by family reasons.

The 30-year-old, a World Cup winner with England in 2003, joined Brive from Northampton in July 2007 after buying out his contract.

Cohen was the second most used player at Brive this season.

He left Northampton in September 2007 after losing out to Bruce Reihana for the club captaincy, buying himself out of his contract so he could join Leicester.

However that move broke down because his testimonial earnings from Northampton would have broken their salary cap.

His move back to England bucks a recent trend which has seen Premiership players, such as James Haskell, Riki Flutey, Tom Palmer and Andy Goode, leave the Premiership to play in France.

Cohen joins a club which will have former England team-mate Jason Robinson as its head coach next season.

Cohen left Northampton under a cloud earlier this season, after experiencing relegation from the Guinness Premiership the season before. He has now joined the club propping up the rest in France’s Top 14, but is convinced the Brivistes can turn things around.

The World Cup-winning winger was introduced to Brive’s rugby public on Sunday during the half-time break of Brive’s one-sided dismissal of Spanish minnows Cetransa in the Challenge Cup.

Rugby league had been mentioned as a possible avenue for Cohen while a deal with Leicester Tigers was blocked due to salary cap restrictions, thus opening the door on a move to south west France.

But the decision to join a club struggling at the foot of their domestic league will inevitably draw parallels with the club that Cohen left in September.

“There were certainly a few clubs interested,” admitted Cohen.

“But when I left Northampton, I said that wanted to find a challenge and this will certainly be a challenge but also a lot of good fun.”

Cohen has played just twenty minutes of top class rugby this season but that isn’t expected to stop Brive Director of Rugby Laurent Seigne from picking the winger for their next league match against Dax on the 22nd December.

That debut could even have come this weekend for the return match against Cetransa if it weren’t for the fact that Cohen isn’t registered with Brive to play Challenge Cup rugby. But there’s no doubting the 29-year-old is itching to start playing again after his enforced break from the game.

“Obviously I’ve got to get the respect of the players and get match fit. I played in the Barbarians last week and didn’t feel too far off the pace,” he added.

“Fitness is always going to be an issue but it’s something that I’ve been working on anyway. You can be the fittest person in the world but match fitness is a totally different thing and you just have to play games.

“I’ve been playing for the same club for the last 14 years so obviously with a new club there’s going to be a bit of variety.

“I still love Northampton and all the people there but this will be a big change, something totally different to what I’ve ever experienced. It’s going to be a different type of rugby to what you’ll find in the Guinness Premiership.”

Cohen will have former Saints and England team mate Steve Thompson for company down in La Corrèze. But he was keen to stress that his arrival at Brive was more down to personal life choices than the comfort of having an old friend at a new club.

“To be honest, Steve wasn’t much of an influence on me coming here. Obviously, it’s good that he’s here but you not going to move to a club because you know a person and like that person.

“I came for different reasons. I came for the challenge. But it does help that he’s here.

“It is a big life change. By coming out here, I get to spend more time with my family and that was one of the factors for coming here. It’s a change and something different.

Like Thompson, England’s World Cup-winnign hooker who played at tighthead prop against Cetransa, Cohen is anxious to declare his interest in regaining his England spot.

It’s been over a year since he won the last of his 57 caps against South Africa and while he has no regrets over making himself unavailable for the World Cup, he’d clearly love to add to his tally of 31 tries.

“I’ll always want to play for England. Every time you go out to play for whatever club you want to play for, you always go out to strive for your country.

“If I was one hundred years old, I’d want to play for England. Hopefully, they’ll come out this way and have a look at me. But I know I’ll have to be playing pretty well to get in the England side.”

Yet it is Brive which will prove to be the winger’s focus over the next few months. An enforced absence from the paddock can often benefit a player’s career and Brive will hope that Northampton’s former favourite will show the kind of form that made him one of England’s great wings over the last seven years. Time will tell.

 
The World Cup-winner has played almost no rugby this season after leaving Northampton in August because of a dispute over the club captaincy.

“I’m a competitor and I will try to use my experience to help the club,” said the 29-year-old, who has 57 England caps to his name.

“It’s a new challenge for me and I know I have to find my place in the team.”

Cohen left Northampton after losing out to Bruce Reihana for the club captaincy, buying himself out of his Saints contract so he could join Leicester.

But the move broke down because his testimonial earnings from Northampton would have broken their salary cap.

Cohen will be reunited with his former Northampton and England team-mate Steve Thompson in France.

Thompson, who has reversed his decision to retire from playing, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I know Ben will fit in.

“We’ve got a great set of lads here and Ben knows what it’s all about living abroad. It’s great to have him here.”

Cohen, England’s joint second-highest try scorer with 31 tries, came on as a second-half substitute for the Barbarians in the victory over South Africa last weekend – his first serious action since the end of last season.

He joins a side that is lying bottom of the French Top 14 with four defeats from their first four games.

Cohen has also said that he was keen to get back into the international set-up, despite making himself unavailable for the World Cup in France to spend time with his pregnant wife.

He has not represented his country since playing against South Africa in November 2006.

But Thompson believes that the move could help him reclaim his place back in the England side.

“Yes he can do it,” said Thompson. “This will give him an extra edge and the flair of playing here is difficult but the coaches would rather you go for it and run the ball.

“You have to buy into their culture, go with it and enjoy it. I thought the game would be a lot looser over here but the defence in this league is as good as in England. I thought it would be a lot more flowing but it’s not at all.”

 
The 29-year-old, a World Cup winner four years ago, ended a 13-year career with Northampton in January because of a serious neck problem.

But surgeons have given Thompson the all clear to return to action and he hopes to be playing again in December.

He said: “My body feels brilliant now. This offer gives me the chance to return and grow with Brive.”

It is a remarkable turnaround for Thompson, who was originally wanted as a scrum coach by Brive and had to seek clearance from the Rugby Football Union to adjust his contract.

He must also repay a substantial insurance claim awarded to him after a neck operation to replace a bulging disc – the problem that led to him retire.

Thompson’s return to action may prompt speculation he could force his way back in to the England side and add to his 47 caps.

But Thompson insists his only goal is to get fit and play for his new club.

“I was ‘rugbyed’ out when the injury happened. But now I realise how much I’ve missed the game,” he told the Times.

“I’ve looked at the players around the world at the top level and some are 34 or 35.

“I’ll get on an immersion course in France, slim down a bit and then we’ll see where we go.

“This is a chance to rediscover myself, take a new look at life.”