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The Ribbans view on 'old role of enforcer' that refs are now hot on
David Ribbans is enjoying his last hurrah with England. Set to join Toulon at the end of the Rugby World Cup, his club switch from Northampton across the Channel will make him ineligible for Test selection by Steve Borthwick in 2024.
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For now, though, the South African is living the dream. He was on the fringes for an age under Eddie Jones, only finally getting a match day look-in last November, and even though his move to Toulon was announced in February, that decision hasn’t diminished the 28-year-old in the eyes of current England head coach Steve Borthwick.
A couple of Guinness Six Nations appearances were followed last month by three Summer Nations Series caps and now that he has pitched up in France at base camp in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, he is ready to get stuck in against Argentina in next Saturday’s World Cup opener in Marseille if selected.
It’s currently that tricky time of the week, training flat-out without yet knowing what way selection will fall. Argentina will present England with a bruising challenge but the South African in Ribbans is in no way intimidated by what is on the horizon at Stade Velodrome.
Asked if the old-school enforcer characteristics still have a role to play in the modern game, Ribbans said: “There is always a space for it. Every team has someone who likes to dominate the game, especially in the second row.
Head-to-Head
Last 5 Meetings
Wins
4
Draws
0
Wins
1
Average Points scored
28
16
First try wins
60%
Home team wins
60%
“The old role of enforcer has slightly changed with the rules of rugby. Refs are getting a bit hot on discipline and things like that. You have got to play a slightly different role but on the pitch you want to make an impact and make a physical presence. They [Argentina] have obviously got second rows who like to do that and it is our job to nullify them and then put our presence on the pitch as well.
“There is always that personal battle on the field against your opposition, especially your opposite number. Come Saturday, of course you are going to want to nullify his threats. But as much as that we also want to express ourselves.
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“As much as you like to talk about the opposition it is also what we are going to be doing to them as an England pack and that is really exciting. It’s a great opportunity for the England pack to make a real stamp on this tournament. In the last four games we have probably fallen short at times, so I’m really looking forward to that challenge.”
England flew across the Channel on the back of a very public loss of faith in them by their supporters. Thousands of seats were left vacant for the series-ending Twickenham defeat to Fiji on August 26, but Ribbans insisted that the hangover from that latest setback has been flushed away in the sunny conditions at their French base camp ahead of Thursday’s location switch to Marseille.
“No single point has been won or lost yet,” he stressed about a run of form that has seen England win just one of their last six matches. “Everyone has written us off already and probably rightly so after the last four games, we know it hasn’t been good enough.
“We as a group had a really good chat arriving here to Touquet, we all said there is a massive opportunity for us, not a single point has been won or lost yet at this World Cup. We have managed to flush what happened about a week and a half ago and started the week really well, looking forward to Saturday.
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“Coaches, players, everyone was involved (in that really good chat). We are all in this together, it is not players versus coaches or anything like that. It’s the whole squad, we are all in this battle together. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone our way but we are really excited for the weekend.
“We are so privileged we have such a mix. We have people who have been at four World Cups and a couple of people like myself who it’s their first, so we have got this real balance. We have got people like Courtney (Lawes) who I know really well from the club, such a good person to lean on in the tough times because he has been through everything.
“My roomy next to me, Lewis (Ludam), has also seen it all before at the World Cup and got to the final, so he knows what it takes to get deep in the competition.
“There is plenty of experience within the squad to lean on and then a couple of us fresh faces are also keep to really rip in, so it’s a really good blend at the moment.”
BREAKING: England skipper Owen Farrell has spoken with the media in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage for the first time since his four-game ban following an August 12 red card – with Liam Heagney ? #EnglandRugby #ENGvARG #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/HBk7PT30fB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 4, 2023
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments