Ribbans reflects on 'emotional week' after starring for Saints against Saracens

Ribbans was lining up for his final competitive game at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens as he is moving to Toulon this summer.

And what a final outing it was for the England lock as he helped to power his team to a bonus-point win that keeps their Gallagher Premiership play-off hopes alive.

"I didn't want to make a big thing of it during the week but for me personally, it has been an emotional week," Ribbans said.

"I knew it was going to be my last home game in the Premiership for the Saints so it was emotional.

"I had my old man in the stands, he flew over here which was extra special, and my goddaughter was watching from the stands so to have some family here made it even more special.

"It's been an amazing six years here and I call this place my home now.

"But I'm also very focused on trying to win some silverware with Saints - that's what I want to achieve.

"It was a nice little send-off on Saturday, man of the match, but it's all about the team and I really want us to finish in that top four and get some silverware."

Next up for Ribbans and Saints is a tricky trip to Newcastle Falcons on Friday night.

The black, green and gold will conclude their regular-season campaign before the side they leapfrogged on Saturday, London Irish, play again.

And Ribbans knows how tough it will be to win at Kingston Park, where Newcastle have been on a fine run of form.

"If you dig deep into their team and see the results they've had at home, they turned over Gloucester despite playing for pretty much the whole game with 14 men," Ribbans said.

"They are a seriously tough side and they've also got a lot of boys leaving, it will be an emotional day for them and it's a Friday night so it should be a fairly full crowd.

"It's going to be tough for us and we need to stick to the basics, stick to our game plan and rectify a lot of what went wrong against Saracens."