LONG READ Has 'narrow-mindedness' cost Ribbans and others their Lions chance?

Dave Ribbans doesn’t hold back, either on the rugby field or in interviews. Asked recently by his local paper in Toulon for his thoughts on Andy Farrell’s Lions squad, the England lock declared “I’ve been better than some of the second-rowers in recent months”.

Not that his omission was a surprise, despite the fact many media outlets, including the BBC and the Guardian, had earmarked Ribbans as a contender. “Let’s just say I didn’t expect to be selected, but I think it would have been interesting for the staff to have a closer eye on the Top 14,” said the 29-year-old. “When you see that Ben White [Scotland’s Toulon scrum-half], who shone during the Six Nations with Scotland, or Jack Willis [Toulouse’s English flanker], who has been extraordinary for the last two years, weren’t called up…that’s just the way it is.”

There is one Top 14 star in the Lions squad, Scotland and Toulouse full-back/wing Blair Kinghorn, but otherwise Farrell passed over the plethora of British and Irish players in France.

Willis has indeed been “extraordinary” for Toulouse since joining the club after the demise of Wasps, but there is no shortage of talented flankers in the Home Nations for Farrell to choose from.

But Ribbans has a point when discussing himself. Second row is not the strong suit of this Lions squad, and the inclusion of the South Africa-born Ribbans would have given them ballast in the set-piece, a reliable line-out winner and athleticism around the park.

There is even a banner at the Stade Mayol, emblazoned with his face alongside ‘God save Ribbans’.

For such a big man – Ribbans is 6ft 8in and 19 stone – the former Northampton lock covers a lot of ground in the loose. He also has soft hands and an ability to offload out of the tackle, which, as he demonstrated last weekend, creates try-scoring opportunities for his team-mates. It’s why he is such a hit with Toulon fans, probably the most popular Englishman since Jonny Wilkinson. There is even a banner at the Stade Mayol, emblazoned with his face alongside ‘God save Ribbans’.

Ribbans was outstanding for Toulon in their 52-23 quarter-final crushing of Castres on Saturday evening, a game in which he also wore the captain’s armband. It’s a mark of the esteem in which he is held by head coach Pierre Mignoni, the man who has masterminded Toulon’s revival this season.

“I love his character,” said Mignoni, not long after Ribbans arrived at the club in in the autumn of 2023. “He’s a hard worker, and physically, he’s an athlete. He’s got a lot going for him…very good in the line-out, he’s quick and he gets about.”

This Saturday Toulon face European champions Bordeaux in the second Top 14 semi-final (the first, on Friday, pits holders Toulouse against Bayonne). It is Toulon’s first appearance in the last four of the championship since 2017. In the years since they have reached the final of the Challenge Cup on three occasions, winning the title in 2023, but it is a long way from the glory years of a decade ago when Toulon dominated Europe.

Mignoni was there at the beginning of this period, playing at scrum-half alongside Wilkinson in 2010 and 2011 before becoming Toulon’s backs coach. He was on the staff when they won the first of three consecutive Champions Cup titles in 2013, and did the double in 2014.

Wilkinson wasn’t the only Englishman at Toulon during this period. There were the Armitage brothers, Delon and Steffon, Andew Sheridan and Nick Kennedy.

In general, English players are valued in France because of their work ethic, which includes the ProD2, where this season Jonny May and Courtney Lawes have impressed.

This appears to have turned Mignoni into something of an Anglophile. Last summer he signed Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam, who, along with Ribbans, are part of a formidably physical Toulon pack. They are the underdogs against Bordeaux and if they are to cause an upset it will require their pack to dominate the set-piece and the breakdown.

Ribbans, Sinckler and Ludlam are three of the growing number of English players in the Top 14, most of whom are thriving in France. They include Will Collier at Castres, Manu Tuilagi at Bayonne, Billy Vunipola at Montpellier and Joe Simmonds and Dan Robson at Pau.

In general, English players are valued in France because of their work ethic, which includes the ProD2, where this season Jonny May and Courtney Lawes have impressed.

The one spectacular failure is Owen Farrell, who has cut short his stay at Racing to return to the comfort zone of Saracens next season. Injuries were a factor in Farrell’s French farce, as was the club’s internal dysfunction, but the fly-half struggled to adapt to the Top 14, which is slower and less structured than the Premiership.

Perhaps that is why, to paraphrase Ribbans, the Lions coaching staff “didn’t have a closer eye on the Top 14”. They considered the rugby too different from the Premiership and the URC.

But it could also be narrow-mindedness, the same blinkered approach the RFU have shown in overlooking those players earning a living in France. Ribbans reckons he is “better” than some of the second rows selected for the Lions tour: aficionados of the Top 14 agree.