Confronting a pack of Lions should not hold many fears for David ‘Ribeye’ Ribbans, who spent his teenage years chasing great white sharks and dealing with matters of life and death by the ocean near Cape Town.
The 27-year-old England lock will hurl himself into Saturday’s Premiership semi-final against mighty, Lions-packed Saracens knowing it could be his last appearance for Northampton, before a summer switch to Toulon. He has become a stalwart of the Saints pack, after moving to the East Midlands from the other side of the equator in 2017, on a long-haul mission to ignite his career.
Ribbans had never travelled outside South Africa before he joined Northampton. He had lived, surrounded by his extended family, in Somerset West, overlooking False Bay; an affluent area, but not without its challenges.
Asked if he ever had to rescue a swimmer, he says: ‘Yeah, we did. Someone died one day when I was working there. They got stung by something and had a heart attack because they had a pacemaker for their heart. It was pretty grim.
‘Plenty of times we had to take people out of the water when sharks came into the bay. We had to chase the sharks out of there in speed boats. There used to be great whites — they were big boys! When you see one of them up close, you realise the size of those things. They are absolutely huge.’
David ‘Ribeye’ Ribbans has become a stalwart of the Saints pack since joining four years ago
The 27-year-old is desperate to sign off as a Saint in fitting fashion before joining Toulon
With so many relatives living nearby, it was a wrench for Ribbans to leave them all behind, but he was merely retracing his family’s heritage to earn a shot at the big time, knowing that he was also eligible to represent England.
‘My dad’s father was born in Enfield, north London,’ he said. ‘When he was four or five, the family emigrated to South Africa. So my father was the first one born in South Africa. Previously, everyone came from England.’
Once Ribbans had agreed to become a Saint, the relocation happened in a hurry. He had assumed the club would find him an apartment of his own. He was wrong. Instead, accommodation was in an academy house behind Franklin’s Gardens. Alex Mitchell — Northampton’s England scrum-half — was another tenant and he ruled the roost.
‘He had the whole top floor to himself; King Mitch,’ says Ribbans. ‘I was in the tiny box room.’
Luckily for the newcomer, he was swiftly welcomed, which is where the nickname tale comes in. He acquired it soon after arriving.
‘It started with Allan Lamb, a local Northampton and England cricket legend,’ he says.
‘I was invited to his place for a barbecue after arriving. I was a 21-year-old who’d just moved over from South Africa. I went over to his place and he cooked about a million steaks. It was the first time I’d seen meat since moving to the UK so I tucked in and probably over-indulged a bit.
‘Between Allan and Nic Groom — who had also joined Saints from South Africa — they came up with the name Ribeye, which fits in with Ribbans. Groom brought it into the club and it just stuck. It’s been my nickname ever since. It’s got to the point that people know Ribeye but they don’t know my actual name.’
Lamb went out of his way to help his compatriot to integrate. ‘He’s always loved rugby and is always coming down to watch the Saints,’ says Ribbans.
South African-born Northampton and England cricket legend Allan Lamb helped Ribbans to integrate
‘He’s always had a strong link with South Africans who have come here, like Victor Matfield in the past, and Schalk Brits and Schalk Burger from Saracens used to come to see him. We hit it off really well and I got to know his whole family.
‘I love cricket. Allan always wants to talk about rugby and I want to talk about cricket!
‘I’ve become even more into cricket since I’ve moved to the UK. I’m trying desperately to get Ashes tickets — let’s get that in the piece!
‘England have been playing really exciting cricket and it’s got people back into Test cricket again, which seemed like a dying sport at one stage. I would say we played Bazball in our first year under Chris Boyd. He came in and his philosophy was, “We’re just going to attack from anywhere”.
‘We took the Premiership by storm in that first year. People had never seen a team consistently attacking from their own 22.’
Ribbans earned his Test debut last autumn at Twickenham and so far has five caps, with designs on claiming several more before the move to Toulon means — in theory — that he is no longer eligible for selection.
He is hell-bent on making the cut for the World Cup, but first he is desperate to sign off as a Saint in fitting fashion.
Saturday’s fixture will be a poignant occasion. ‘The club has meant so much to me over the years and I just want to end on a good note,’ he says. ‘I never would have thought I’d stay as long as I did but it’s been the best time of my life and it was a really hard decision to leave. So of course it is emotional.’
Ribbans earned his Test debut last autumn at Twickenham and so far has five England caps
Ribbans will come up against fellow England internationals Maro Itoje (centre, with ball) as well as Jamie George and Mako Vunipola
What about confronting that pack of Lions — Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Mako Vunipola are part of the formidable Saracens forward unit — along with Owen Farrell and so many other class acts who will be unleashed by the title favourites?
‘We can’t hide behind the fact that Saracens are an unbelievable team who’ve been there and done it on numerous occasions,’ says Ribbans.
‘But I do believe this Saints team have what it takes to go one step further and be challenging to go through to a final.
‘Of course, that’s the script — to win a Premiership at Twickenham would be the perfect farewell for me, for sure. Fingers crossed…’
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