Following the French, Rita tossed a rope (6)
I believe the answer is:
lariat
'a rope' is the definition.
(I know that lariat is a type of rope)
'following the french rita tossed' is the wordplay.
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the french' becomes 'la' ('the' in French).
'tossed' indicates an anagram.
'rita' with letters rearranged gives 'riat'.
'la' put next to 'riat' is 'LARIAT'.
(Other definitions for lariat that I've seen before include "Rope used as a lasso" , "Long narrow ditch" , "Cowboy's rope, lasso" , "Rope to lasso or tether" , "tethering-rope" .)