sport news David Ribbans 'used to chase away great white sharks in a speed boat' trends now
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
