Sébastien CHABAL

Biog of Sébastien CHABAL :

Sébastien Chabal’s long hair, beard and two crunching tackles have made him a household name. He might well say that “there are people with beards and long hair everywhere,” but rugby players that resemble Hells Angels do not grow on trees. And even fewer give off that aura of brute force. The Kiwis, who were the first to vaunt his prowess, were not mistaken. In June 2007, on the other side of the world, Chabal became known as “the Caveman”. He had knocked out Chris Masoe and fractured the jaw of Ali Williams, the French had conceded 102 points (against 21) in two tests including the heaviest defeat in their history, but the phenomenon was born, and would continue to grow.

Today, Sébastien Chabal is France’s favourite sportsperson (according to a survey in l’Equipe Magazine in June 2010) and the only rugby player capable of attracting large crowds. In his previous life, between the ages of 18 and 21, Chabal was a turner/ machine operator working a three-shift-a-day system in his native Drome, playing rugby at the weekends with no other ambition than to enjoy himself in the promotion d’honneur  (7th division). Perhaps if his partner had not been the brother of the Bourgoin captain, then who knows …? But he gave it a go, with barely four years of rugby behind him. It was 1998. With his swept-back hair, angular face, bulging muscles and (already) huge arms he was nicknamed “the Yugo,” quickly to be replaced by “the Shell,” so destructive were his tackles.

Chabal took a year to settle down, then just a few months more and he appeared in the French team as flanker for the match against Scotland in the 2000 Six Nations tournament. He hurt himself as much as his opponent in one of his trademark tackles and left the field before the hour, the first scene of the first act of Chabal’s life in blue. The pattern was set for the years to come; he had incredible power and explosive strength but lacked the engine, which meant he had a tendency to go missing for periods of a game. “He makes a big hit and then hides for a quarter of an hour to get his breath back,” explained Bernard Laporte, coach at the time. The first choice flankers, Magne and Betsen, had set the bar very high. Chabal filled in when needed, including for the 2003 World Cup.

Then 2004. Philippe Saint-André, the Bourgoin coach, took Chabal with him when he moved to Sale, England, giving him the number eight shirt. It proved a revelation - and a shock for his opponents, like the big-name World Cup winners Dallaglio, Hill and Corry, who found themselves on their backsides. “What motivates him is to feel wanted, to feel valued” deciphers Olivier Milloud, his friend from Bourgoin. Saint André understood. “The more you involve Sébastien, the more he gets stuck in. He is at the heart of our system at Sale”. Chabal, who, according to Jacques Brunel, Laporte’s assistant, needed to “step up a level in his ability to use his strength,” thrived - in Manchester’s southern suburbs, in the anonymity of a region that prefers football and rugby league to rugby union, the man who dreamed of Toulouse.

Chabal was recalled to the French team for the odd match in the 2005 Six Nations tournament, and then again in November, but was not convincing. In England, in front of an adoring public, Chabal shone, winning the Championship in May 2006, but for Laporte he remained surplus to requirements - up until a certain match in December 2006, that is. At the Parc des Princes, the former temple of French rugby and the venue for the European Cup match between Stade Français and Sale, Chabal, now long-haired and bearded, stole the show. And, hey presto, he was back with les Bleus again, appearing three times in the starting line up at number eight during the 2007 Six Nations tournament, and then twice more in June in New Zealand with the “success” we all know about.

Since then Chabal is a different animal, over whom the debate still rages today: Can he last 80 minutes at the international level? Which position best suits him? He has become a universally-recognised media icon, a situation that the 2007 World Cup only served to enhance. Chabal did not even have the leading role. Laporte moved him to the second row, a position he knew little about and where his stamina could pose a problem. He was picked in front of the specialist Papé, who was behind the incomparable Nallet in the pecking order. “Chabalmania” was rampant, screaming for his incredible physique (1.91m, nearly 115kg with only 9% body fat) and his totally different look. “My fame came about in a strange way, without any real sporting success,” he agrees. The home bird in his private life suddenly found himself on (nearly) every advertising board in France.
 
Chabal’s homecoming during the off-season in 2009, to join Racing-Metro 92, only accentuated the phenomenon. He can now be seen every weekend gracing the stadia of the Top 14. His boss, the extremely wealthy Jacky Lorenzetti, pays him handsomely (around 700 000 Euros a season, benefits in kind included) but maintains that “a player paid 150 000 Euros sweats blood and tears but doesn’t contribute anything else. Chabal brings in the crowds, the sponsors and makes the supporters happy as well.” Chabal pays his way! On the field, Pierre Berbizier continued to use him as a number eight. However, for France, despite the arrival of a new coaching staff who at first overlooked him (2008 Six Nations tournament), Chabal remained a second row up until November 2010, the position in which he has earned most of his caps (25 out of 58), moving back and forth between the bench and the starting line up (27 times as replacement in total, 9 since the arrival of Lièvremont). In the autumn, the French staff moved Chabal to his favourite position, number eight (once as replacement, twice in the starting line-up) and say that they are satisfied with his performances. Can Chabal keep the position up until the World Cup, the ultimate objective of his career?

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