Saracens v Toulon: Delon Armitage returns to Twickenham looking to restore his reputation in Heineken Cup semi-final "The last couple of years in England were not the best," said Armitage, who will be 30 in December. It would be great to finish off well and to give people a different idea of me. I did leave under a bit of a cloud. I want everything that is written about me to be about what happens on the pitch. I've learnt a lot since I came here last summer, especially from the likes of Mr [Jonny] Wilkinson over there, about how you have to deport yourself off the field as well as on it. When you come from just being a club player and suddenly you're thrust into the big thing that is playing for England and all that goes with it, well, you can forget that you are in the public eye all the time. That's not to make excuses, just to explain that it has taken me a long time to realise all that. Kids do see you as a role model whether you do yourself. So, yes, I hope I've turned a page. I don't want people to have a bad image of me in their minds. I definitely have regrets about the way it finished. It was all rather unseemly - a bust-up in a Torquay nightclub following an England Saxons game in Exeter. Stuart Lancaster had just taken over the reins. Danny Care had already felt the force of Lancaster's ethical clean-up of English rugby. Next in line was Armitage. He was dismissed from the elite squad. Shortly afterwards his move to join his brother Steffon at Toulon was confirmed. The Armitages are valued properties at Toulon, not just because they are accomplished performers but also because their formative rugby years were spent in France playing for Nice (1996-2002) when their family was based down in Provence. The apprenticeship on French soil means that they do not count as overseas players. With a quota system in place, it makes them attractive propositions. Armitage, though, came for other reasons, and not just to flee demons either. His eyes were on silverware. He had spent a decade at London Irish, rising through from the Academy, but had no medals in his bottom drawer. He had come close, a Premiership final against Leicester in 2009, lost by the narrowest of margins, 10-9. The previous season London Irish reached the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup. They lost that, too, undeservedly so, Toulouse winning 21-15 at Twickenham. That was the match that first brought Armitage to the attention of a wider audience. Within six months he was in the England team. And now, back to the self-same venue. "Yeah, it will be special going to Twickenham but it doesn't mean much unless we come away with a victory," said Armitage, casting his mind back to that Toulouse game. How many people remember that London Irish actually made a Heineken Cup semi-final? It is all about the winners. That's certainly the view here at Toulon. They reached two finals last season and lost both, to Toulouse in the Top 14 and Biarritz in the Amlin. I didn't come to Toulon to relax and enjoy the weather. Everyone is here to win things. Sarries will be a tough nut to crack. They used to be a bit negative but they've been running in the tries. Joel Tomkins has settled in the centre, [David] Strettle and [Chris] Ashton are seeing plenty of ball, and scoring. It should be a cracker.  Armitage did harbour hopes that he might one day return to the England fold. Not any more. "No, I've finally come to terms with that," said Armitage. I was gutted not to be involved. Stuart looks to have got a great team ethic going. But I knew the consequences of going abroad. That's why this next few weeks is so important. Toulon are in two semi-finals again. As I found out at London Irish, you don't get too many shots at these sort of occasions. Toulon have this reputation of big spenders, just like Manchester City. Well, like City, they are going to keep spending until they win something. It is up to us now to do the business. That's the pressure and expectation on you. You have got to deliver. A warm handshake and he was off, a bundle of edge and energy with a point to prove.