David Ribbans: Northampton Saints' England lock to leave for Toulon at end of season

David Ribbans has scored 17 tries for Northampton Saints

England lock David Ribbans will leave Northampton Saints at the end of the season to join French side Toulon.

The 27-year-old has made 115 appearances for the Premiership club since joining from South African side Western Stormers in January 2017.

He made his Test debut for England last year.

"It's disappointing to lose a player of his calibre and we were surprised Dave wanted to leave the club at this time," said Saints boss Phil Dowson.

"You always want to create an environment for players where they can work hard, thrive, win matches and be successful on the international stage. Sometimes, that means players become attractive propositions for other clubs."

Dowson said Northampton are "proud of the progress made" by South Africa-born Ribbans while at Franklin's Gardens and will "wish him well".

"He is of course a professional, and will be putting all his efforts in his final months in Northampton to ensure the team is as successful as possible," Dowson said.

Ribbans said: "This was not an easy decision for me to make. I'm extremely grateful to the club's supporters for embracing me as they have in my time here, and to the coaches and support staff for everything they have done to improve me as a player.

"I'll be sad to leave some great friends and teammates, but I'll be giving everything I've got to make sure we finish the season as strongly as possible."