Ribbans ready to deliver for his club after playing the Saints way for his country

After all, to come on at such a key time and try something so audacious would surely be beyond most players who had only made their Test debut a week earlier.

However, when you are under pressure, you often revert to type – and that is exactly what Ribbans did.

Because it has become so ingrained in the Saints players to back their skills that even in the biggest moments, they are able to.

Ribbans did just that, and it paid off as a try came from that move and England pulled back from 25-6 down to draw 25-25 with the All Blacks.

“It's the way we train,” said Ribbans, speaking at Saints’ media day earlier this week.

"We're a highly skilled team and it's something that comes naturally to most of us.

"I didn't really think about the big stage in the moment and it was just one of those things.

"It's something I've trained loads and it just happened to come off at a good point, that's for sure.

"All gloves were off in the last 20 and a few things stuck, which was good.

"It was great to be part of that comeback and to be able to play a part for the team.”

England’s results may not have been the most impressive during the autumn, but Ribbans certainly caught the eye.

And he is hoping he can now have a big impact for his club, having returned for Saints from the bench in the 34-19 defeat at Gloucester last Saturday.

"It’s good to be back,” Ribbans said.

"It's been a busy last month and it was pretty special to get my first cap. It's something I've worked hard for and been waiting for for a long time. I'm buzzing about that.

"We had a tough few results but I'm back now and it's Europe so I'm looking forward to it.”

Just like England, Saints have also not had things their own way of late.

They have suffered back-to-back Gallagher Premiership defeats, shipping points for fun against Saracens and Gloucester.

And things will get even harder on Saturday evening as they travel to face reigning Champions Cup champions La Rochelle at Stade Marcel Deflandre.

"There’s no better challenge than playing the current European champions away from home so there's a lot of excitement.

"It's good to get on the road again.

"We've had Bordeaux and Racing but both of those games were called off because of Covid.

"It's good to get on the road for us and it's a good halfway point for this season.

"The first half of the season has been quite disappointing with some of the results so it's good to park the Premiership for a little bit and go into something slightly different.

"We can challenge ourselves against a top team so we're looking forward to it.

"Of course we know we're going to be underdogs because we're up against the reigning champs.

"We're going there with a clear plan and hopefully we can execute.

"It's going to be fun.”