{"id":8721,"date":"2025-04-10T18:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T18:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/8721\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T18:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T18:36:14","slug":"champions-cup-david-ribbans-excited-as-hell-for-toulon-v-toulouse-tie-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/8721\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions Cup: David Ribbans ‘excited as hell’ for Toulon v Toulouse tie : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Toulon and the Stade Felix Mayol set to host one of their biggest games in recent times, James While caught up with their skipper, ex-England lock David Ribbans.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toulon are poised to tackle arch rivals Toulouse in the quarter-finals of the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on the last-eight in some style.<\/p>\n

Appetite for destruction<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you saw for yourself the appetite for the big matches we have in Toulon on Saturday,\u201d Ribbans<\/a> explained after their victory over Saracens in the Round of 16<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole location of the Mayol and the way the town gets around the club and the team is almost unique and for all of the great fun we had against Saracens, I think this one will be that game on steroids and we\u2019re all as excited as hell for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting that neither Toulouse or us started particularly well at the weekend; obviously Toulouse had the parachute incident to contend with, but I don\u2019t think either of us were happy about the way we started \u2013 we certainly weren\u2019t and there were some stern words spoken at half-time,\u201d he confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cPotentially, we got too engaged in the emotion last weekend and I think the occasion and the excitement just made us lose early concentration. We\u2019ve spoken about it already this week \u2013 Pierre (Mignoni) also highlighted poor defensive errors early in the game \u2013 it was unacceptable in the terms of the standards we set ourselves and we\u2019ve had some conversations about how we cope with those early pressure moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very much aware that if we repeat that against the quality of Toulouse they won\u2019t give us the same opportunity to get back into the game \u2013 they\u2019re far too clinical for that \u2013 so our approach is learn from those errors, identify them properly and honestly and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top 14 excellence<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is a game that just underlines the standard of the Top 14. It is Test match intensity week in and week out \u2013 especially at the top half of the league,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often talk about the standard, but for me, it\u2019s the culture that defines it. The French people embrace their clubs as part of the community. The appetite for great rugby is huge \u2013 even down to the crowds you see in the Pro D2 \u2013 especially when they televise those away from Top 14 clashes on Thursday nights \u2013 a model that really promotes that league.<\/p>\n

EPCR reveal possible Champions Cup semi-final venues as Leinster and Bordeaux-Begles get added advantage over title contenders<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing spectacle \u2013 sold-out stadiums and wonderfully passionate fans \u2013 and as a player that is so enjoyable. Places like Castres away \u2013 they\u2019re super hostile environments both on and off the pitch, but that\u2019s what excites us as players.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously there\u2019s a salary cap much higher than the Premiership. But, and this is important, we play eight to twelve games a year more than the Premiership sides and there\u2019s no breaks in our schedule like there is back in England. So in short, that increased cap pays for deeper squads, and that depth is needed for the duration of the competition \u2013 so I don\u2019t buy that the cap difference is as big a point of difference as others make out,\u201d Ribbans observed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a fine balance; our workload is huge \u2013 on a personal level I\u2019ve played a lot of games this season and I\u2019m envious of those who get rested more, but that level of challenge also preps you for big games such as this one coming up, so it is, as I say, quite a fine balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maturing leader<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s a huge honour to skipper a club as steeped in tradition as Toulon are. I always think that leadership can be a poisoned chalice to some \u2013 it can go one way or another in terms of the effect it has on personal form. Sometimes you\u2019re trying too hard, doing things that aren\u2019t you, so for me, the key has been not to let it bother me too much,\u201d admitted the former England<\/a> lock.<\/p>\n

Loose Pass: Champions Cup \u2018desperately needs a reset\u2019 after \u2018unsurprising\u2019 weekend and why a Spanish World Cup MUST happen<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the reason I got the gig was I\u2019d built up respect from the club, the city and the supporters in terms of the way I play and the commitment I have to RCT. So why change that? There\u2019s plenty of voices within the senior leadership of the club, both player and coach, that are vocal and can tee off a bit, so I try to balance that out with simplicity and only saying things when they\u2019re needed to be said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s a clich\u00e9, but I just carry on doing what I do. I called the lineouts even when Charles (Ollivon) was around, so that continues \u2013 and I have two former France skippers supporting me in him and also Baptiste Serin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scariest thing has been the pressure it\u2019s put on my French language skills \u2013 but I\u2019m getting there!\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

International return<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019m aware of reports last week about international futures and one thing I\u2019ll stress is I don\u2019t like the concept of changing countries for convenience. I played for England and for sure, I\u2019d love to do that again \u2013 so that is a desire, for sure,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

British and Irish Lions Team of the Week: \u2018Dazzling\u2019 bolters \u2018upset\u2019 the pecking order as Farrell\u2019s main selection \u2018conundrum\u2019 intensifies<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe British and Irish Lions<\/a> are aware of availability of key eligible players for the Lions trip and of course I\u2019d want to go. However, for those of us involved in the Top 14 race, availability is going to be an issue and that goes for all of us \u2013 Jack Willis, Ben White, Blair Kinghorn and myself, just to mention a few. But they know we\u2019re available and the rest is up to them \u2013 it\u2019s out of my control, but of course I\u2019d leap at the chance,\u201d Ribbans confirmed.<\/p>\n

Competitive edge<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking forward to this week, this is a game where we need to start hot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have Baptiste Serin and he\u2019s a game changer for us. If you looked at his highlights reel from this season alone your jaw would hit the floor, he is that good. France produce nines like no other; it\u2019s a different role here \u2013 they control the match in the same way a ten does for South Africa or England.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the general of the side here and as a simple example, when Ben White came to RCT it took him some time to adapt to the play controlling role of a French nine. He\u2019d be the first to admit it\u2019s one he\u2019s still learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ribbans continued: \u201cLooking forward to the weekend, I think we saw a brilliant first half from Sale last weekend, but then the relentlessness of Toulouse and the quality they unloaded off the bench simply became too much for them as they tired on a hot day. That physicality needs to be matched and bettered, but it\u2019s not just about that power \u2013 players like Meafou, Flament, Cros and Willis are also phenomenal with ball in hand and they offload and pass in chaos like stars, so it\u2019s key for us to respect our own possession too, and not give those back-rowers the chance to steal or disrupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes back to that concentration piece. We saw with Sale how one overhit kick cost them a 50\/22 and then Toulouse score off a lineout and turn the match around \u2013 all from one kick that was two or three metres too long. They love those moments, they gain energy from them, suddenly they win the next restart, come alive and you\u2019re 14 down in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt boils down to managing to start hot but then maintaining momentum and concentration. They defend pretty well so our own efficiency in scoring is also key and that\u2019s the thinking we\u2019re focusing on for Sunday. It\u2019s going to be great!\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Leinster have \u2018seriously evolved\u2019 under Jacques Nienaber as \u2018stars aligning\u2019 for fifth Champions Cup title<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Toulon and the Stade Felix Mayol set to host one of their biggest games in recent times,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[5313,2383,5708,393,126,225,522,12,4151,2196,79,5707,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-8721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-british-and-irish-lions","9":"tag-champions-cup","10":"tag-david-ribbans","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-features","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-international","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-rugby","17":"tag-south-africa","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-top-14","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114315118746925063","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}