Louis Ribaimont

Louis Ribaimont is a young forward making his way through the ranks at Section Paloise, the kind of uncompromising prospect French clubs like to develop from within. His game is rooted in effort: a willingness to do the hard, repetitive work in the tight, to chase and tackle in defence and to hold his own in the close exchanges that define forward play. Having come up through Pau's academy, he is at the point where senior exposure begins to shape a career. Ribaimont's value is in his physical commitment and his appetite for the unglamorous tasks — the clear-outs, the set-piece graft and the defensive grind — that earn the trust of coaches. There is plenty still to add, as there is for any teenager stepping into Top 14 surroundings, but the foundations of work rate and physicality are exactly the ones clubs hope to build on. For Pau, he is a developing piece of a pack being assembled with an eye on the future.