The Albany Gazette - Toulon flanker Ludlam set to show England what they're missing

Among them is back-rower Lewis Ludlam, a member of England's last two World Cup squads and a key factor in Northampton's compelling rise to English champions last season.

Now based in Toulon, the 29-year-old from Ipswich has already clocked up 682 minutes on the field this season, featuring in nine of their Top 14 matches and starting their two Champions Cup wins against Stormers and Glasgow.

With England refusing to pick players who play outside the Premiership, Ludlam will offer a reminder on Sunday to an audience back home of what they may be missing when he lines up against Harlequins at the Stade Mayol.

Toulon is a club with strong recent links to the English with the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, brothers Steffon Armitage and Delon Armitage, Andrew Sheridan and Chris Ashton among their alumni while Ludlam's old England teammate Kyle Sinckler also arrived on the coast last summer.

"The fans here appreciate passionate players who get involved, so I realised that this was the right place for me because this has always been my game," Ludlam told AFP.

"People are now starting to understand the type of player I am. Whatever I can do to help the team each week, I'll do it to help us win trophies."

A Tottenham Hotspur fan who was brought up on football and boxing by his father from an early age, the former Saint tried his hand at rugby after discovering the sport though England's victory in the 2003 World Cup.

"I'd never watched a match before that," he explains with a big smile.

- 'Be the pig' -

Of Palestinian and Guyanese heritage, Ludlam initially found it hard to break into rugby.

"I remember my first session, running and throwing the ball like in American Football because that's the only way I knew how to do it."

Playing high quality schools rugby took him into the Northampton academy but Saints let him go, judging him at the time to be too small and too light to become a professional rugby player.

That was the moment for some life-changing advice.

"One of my sports teachers at school said the best thing anyone has ever said to me: 'There are different types of players, it's like breakfast. The hen gives you the eggs, the cow gives you the milk and the pig gives you his whole body. If you want to be a top player, you have to be the pig for your team and give everything on the pitch'."

Ludlam took the advice to heart and found his way back to Northampton, going on to play 116 times for the club and collect 25 caps for England.

"He's someone who will fight to the end, he's done that his whole career," says second row David Ribbans, a former teammate at Northampton and his club colleague again at Toulon.

"It was a big decision for him to leave England and the national team. It wasn't easy. But he came to Toulon and he embraced the culture of the club and the supporters."

Ludlam has quickly integrated into life in the Mediterranean port city, explaining in decent French that he and his family are expecting a daughter - "une petite Toulonnaise" - next month.

For now, though, he will be focusing his attentions on his old acquaintances from Harlequins.

(W.Williams--TAG)