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Lewis Ludlam: 'You make your decisions and you live by them'
By Liam Heagney
A freezing RugbyPass was left rather envious of Lewis Ludlam earlier this week. There was the former England international talking over Zoom from an outdoor balcony at the Toulon training ground, referencing the sunny 13 degree afternoon he was indulging and casually suggesting he was off for a spot of January fishing as soon as our chat was over.
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He hoped some squid would be his catch of the day. That’s quite the change from his usual inland Tuesday routine around his old Northampton haunts. For sure, life is certainly different these past few months for the 29-year-old who quit the Gallagher Premiership for a three-year adventure in the balmy south of France.
He feels he doesn’t get to play as much as he did in England but is loving it all the same. Toulon are 14 games deep into their Top 14 campaign and his ninth appearance last weekend at home to Racing 92 heralded his maiden try.
However, with that tournament on hold until later this month, his Investec Champions Cup horizon is English-tinged with Harlequins due in the port city this Sunday and a trip to Manchester then awaits the following weekend. Bring it!
“One of the big differences is there are so many games,” he began, explaining his transition to rugby across the Channel. “At Northampton, you were used to playing in a lot, playing pretty much consistently every single week, and here the big difference is they rotate the team a lot which has had some getting used to.
“I’ve had to stay patient. I’m someone who loves playing, loves being on the field, but when the coach tells you that you are being rested for the weekend you have got to have that understanding and that trust.
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“The goal here is winning trophies, winning games, so whatever I can do to support the team when I’m not putting on the jersey, I’ve got to do that. That’s my job. That’s what I have to keep at the forefront of my mind, so it’s about getting back on the horse.
“I know I will be playing the week after or the week after that and yeah, the cycle continues. It’s just about helping the team and assisting wherever I can. All in all, it has been good. Enjoyable. I’ve learned massive amounts. The boys have been fantastic in helping me settle in as well.”
He initially gravitated towards some fellow foreigners on arrival. David Ribbans and Dan Biggar were old pals from his Shoe Army days while Kyle Sinckler was a mate he soldiered with at back-to-back Rugby World Cups. However, he isn’t shy and confidently mucks in with the natives.
“We have a good group of foreigners and naturally it’s easier to get on with those boys. However the French boys, it surprised me how close we have been with them. Some brilliant lads in there. Everyone. I don’t think there has been a single person who hasn’t been welcoming and understanding and has been patient when you are trying to speak the language to them. It has been a fantastic group.
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“We have two French lessons a week with a professor, so I pretty much understand most things in meeting rooms. I can say what I want to say. When it comes to understanding in public, it gets a little more difficult when they are speaking really fast. But I have enjoyed that as well, the challenge of learning the language and learning a new culture.”
Not all has been plain sailing. For instance, there was one afternoon when he thought he was tucking in some lean chicken. It was rabbit and he hasn’t tried it since. “Definitely not. I haven’t gone anywhere near it. Snails as well. Frogs legs. Staying well clear,” he chuckled before elaborating on downtime habits.
“I’ve done a fair bit of fishing to be fair. Pre-season we got on the boat a couple of days as well. Playing a lot of guitar again. Going out for coffees, nice dinners. It’s a beautiful spot and the people down here are vibrant and lovely.
“The lifestyle is a little different and something that has helped me switch off outside of rugby. When you get off the training pitch there is heaps to do. The skies are bright and the weather is good to get out and do stuff.”
The Lewis Ludlam Experience Instagram account is a picture showcase capturing the vibe. “We’re very lucky we live in a brilliant area so there is always something to take pictures of, to capture moments, so it is just trying to put my stuff out there.
“Rugby doesn’t last forever and if opportunities do arise, I have got a portfolio to show for it and that is sort of the goal with it. But for now, it’s a great way to switch off, a great way to get out and see the area.”
Back to the rugby. Openside was where Ludlam earned his stripes at Northampton, expertise that culminated in last June’s Premiership final win over Bath at Twickenham. On the Riviera, though, blindside is where he is stationed. How is that transition?
“You’re not doing a massive amount of lineout at six in France. Six in England, you’re relying on your Courtney Lawes and whatnot to get up in the lineout and win ball for you whereas here you are more of a workhorse, a battering ram.
“You get your hands on the ball a little bit more at six in France, so that has been a bit of a difference. Obviously, them playing with a bigger lock as well, one bigger lock, he tends to pick up a lot of that work you get at six in England.”
Ludlam is currently just above the fighting weight he used to be at Saints. “I dropped a lot coming here thinking French rugby is going to be more ball in play, a little bit more open, but the game is a little slower and more physical so I have actually put a little more on. I’m about 114 at the minute, just because the games are more physical.
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“You get a lot of big boys who just want you run straight at you a lot of the time so that weight change is working well at the moment and as the season continues I will continue to adapt and assess it. Still trying to figure out what the exact weight I want to be at but forwards here tend to be a little bit heavier so that [114] is what I am sticking to.”
Toulon wasn’t an alien choice for Ludlam. He was only a teenager in England when the French club was tearing it up in Europe, winning a hat-trick of Heineken Cup titles, but he was clued into their exploits.
“A couple of players I looked up to growing up were the likes of Delon and Steffon Armitage. The first game I watched was London Irish in a London double header and I remember seeing those two and thinking, ‘They look a little like me. If there is a future for them in this sport, it must be for me as well’.
“When they went over to Toulon, you kept up with them and then with the likes of Jonny (Wilkinson) over here as well, growing up at that age it was natural for a young English rugby player to see guys like that playing for a club down here.
“It’s crazy really. The moment you step in the door you see the pictures of those guys winning trophies, you’re told about the history, you’re made to learn about it. So to get the opportunity to play for the same club of people I grew up watching and looking up to has been an unbelievable experience.
“Here, the emotional side of the game is talked about a bit more,” he added. “There is no right or wrong way to do it but what they did well at Northampton was it was very clear and structured and it was problem solving. It was, ‘We need to do this because of this’.
“You leave the emotional side out of it a little bit more at Northampton. You talk about it on game day but here the emotional side of the game is they are extremely passionate in training, in meeting rooms before a game, and in games as well they are an extremely passionate bunch.”
??????????
La @ChampionsCup revient en 2025 au Stade Mayol ?
Nos ?&? reçoivent les @Harlequins le dimanche 12 janvier à 14h pour cette troisième journée de la Coupe d'Europe ?
Prenez vos places ???
— RCT – RC Toulon (@RCTofficiel) January 5, 2025
Rumbustious fans have also struck a chord. “It has taken some getting used to. Even though it is just across the pond, the mentality is so different. The supporters are brilliant. I remember turning up to our first pre-season game and them banging drums outside the bus.
“I said to the boys, ‘This is unbelievable’. They said, ‘This is nothing, wait until the first home game of the season’. The flares, the noise, and the Pilou-Pilou before the game, it’s a different experience. When you’re winning it’s unbelievable. When you’re not they keep you accountable as well.”
Mention of fans, Ludlam spoke at length two years ago in a previous RugbyPass interview about how the sport needed to grow its popularity. What has he learned in Top 14 after eight seasons as a Premiership player? “One thing I have noticed is the difference in ticket prices,” he volunteered.
“Your most expensive seats here go for €39, €40 on a match day in a prime spot which means the priority is filling the stadium every single week and they manage to do. Seeing the expense of tickets, people want to get behind the team, support the team and people who wouldn’t necessarily want to come to rugby games want to come and experience the atmosphere.
“Probably the audience seems a little bit younger as well. I don’t know exactly why that is, maybe it’s the area we live in. But a younger audience brings a little more excitement in the stadium, a little bit more noise, and then after games a little more liveliness out in the town. They are the two clearest things I can think of.”
It was Rugby World Cup 2023 when Ludlam was last involved with England, but prematurely calling time on his Test career with his club switch to France isn’t something he has had sleepless nights over.
“If they [the RFU] change the rules they change the rules and we will deal with that bridge when we come to it. But for the moment my sole focus is winning games with Toulon, winning trophies with Toulon and that is quite a motivating focus to have.
First one in ?&? for @LewisLudlam ?
Retrouvez le résumé du match sur notre chaine YouTube ??
— RCT – RC Toulon (@RCTofficiel) January 6, 2025
“It’s hard for players for England to have to think about getting selected for England and what an England coach wants and what your club coach wants and winning games and having to go away for long periods during the Six Nations or autumn – it gets difficult and I understand how difficult it is.
“The difference here is my only focus is Toulon and at the moment that is a focus I am enjoying. Like I said, if they change the rules or when my contract finishes here, there is always that thought at the back of your mind that maybe the England career isn’t finished. But for now it’s full steam ahead with Toulon.
“For me it was the perfect time to come, the perfect time to try something new and I don’t think you should ever look back in your life. You make your decisions and you live by them. It has been a fantastic experience here.
“The goal will always be trophies and the judge of success and of how the move went will always be how many trophies we have got by the time I finish here. When my time is finished here we can look back and figure out whether it was the right decision.”
Adding fuel to Ludlam’s fire is the traumatic season-ending loss of France back-rower Charles Ollivon to a torn cruciate ligament last weekend. “It’s tough. Charles is a leader in the group, so to see him hurt and down goes one of two ways: you can either be sad about it or we can finish the season off right for him and make sure that we have got something to show for his injury.
“That is what we are going to endeavour to do for him. He is someone who loves the club. I know all he wants to see us do is win games and we hopefully can continue to do that.”
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