Jump to content

Sébastien Chabal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 89.127.170.170 (talk) at 15:39, 14 March 2010 (→Early years). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sébastien Chabal
Height1.92 m (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in)
Weight115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Template:Number 8, Template:Lock, Template:Flanker
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2000–2004
2004–2009
2009–present		 CS Bourgoin
Sale Sharks
Racing Métro		 45
81
12		 (35)
(45)
(5)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2000–present France 53 (30)

Sébastien Chabal (born 8 December 1977 in Valence, Drôme) is a French rugby union footballer who has played Template:Number 8 and Template:Lock professionally for Bourgoin (1998-2004) and Racing Métro 92 Paris (2009-current) in France, Sale Sharks (2004-2009) in England and for the French national side. He earned his first international cap on 4 March 2000 against Scotland and has gone on to represent France in 39 games scoring six tries, two against Italy in the 2007 Six Nations, a match-winning try against England in the run-up to the 2007 World Cup, two against Namibia in the 2007 World Cup itself and another against Italy in the 2009 Six Nations. Despite this, he has failed to secure his place in the national side,[1] although he has become one of the most popular sportsmen in France[2] à such that local journalists write and talk about Chabalmania.

Chabal has played rugby union at the highest level for over ten years and has won the English Premiership and the Orange Cup with Sale, and the 2007 Six Nations Championship with France. He has also finished fourth place twice in the Rugby World Cup. He is known for his full beard, long hair and ferocious tackling, leading the French rugby fans to nickname him l'Homme des Cavernes—the Caveman. With this look, he has a number of lucrative commercial contracts which has made him the highest paid French rugby union footballer since 2007.

Personal life

Born 8 December 1977 in Valence, Drôme, Chabal grew up in Beaumont-lès-Valence in the Drôme department in southeast France. His family was a modest one originally from Ardèche,[3] his father worked in a garage and his mother in a jewellery store[4]. Passionate about mechanical works, he attended a Lycée professionnel where he studied for and obtained a brevet d'études professionnelles in mechanics.[4] He then worked as a milling machine operator in a Salmson factory in Crest, Drôme.[5] While working in Crest, he played rugby for the amateur club in Beauvallon.[5] When he joined Valence Sportif he left his factory job and became a professional rugby union player.

While playing for CS Bourgoin-Jallieu, he married Annick[6] and became stepfather to her daughter born in 1994.[4][7] In 2005, he welcomed the birth of his daughter Lily-Rose.[4][7].

Sporting career

Early years

Chabal first tried rugby at the age of nine, but gave it up after just two months.[4] However, he tried his hand at rugby again when he was sixteen when he followed two friends who played for the local club in Beauvallon.[5][8] This time, he not only discovered a passion for the game, but the camaraderie that follows matches.

Very quickly, he began making his way up the French league system. First with Valence Sportif who played in the Fédérale 2, the fourth division of French rugby, and then with CS Bourgoin-Jallieu in 1998 who played in the top flight. Here, he played as a flanker as his preferred position of number eight was taken by Pierre Raschi. With Bourgoin-Jallieu, Chabal played at the highest level of French domestic rugby, European club rugby and from here gained his first international cap for France. Moreover, at Bourgoin-Jallieu he played with the golden generation of players from the clubs youth system such as Lionel Nallet, Julien Bonnaire, Olivier Milloud, Pascal Papé, and Benjamin Boyet. However, he didn't win any trophies during this time although he played in the semi-final of the French championship during the 2003-2004 season. He also played on the losing side in the 1998-99 European Challenge Cup final, the final of the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1999, the final of the League Cup in 2003 and the final of the Challenge Sud-Radio in 2003.

On 11 October 2002, during the group stages of the 2002-2003 Heineken Cup, Bourgoin, with Chabal, defeated Sale Sharks 18-24 at Edgeley Park, the home of Sale Sharks. During this match, Jason Robinson received a yellow card for the first time in his career following a tackle from Chabal.[9][10] In the return match, Bourgoin again defeated Sale, but finished second in their group to Biarritz Olympique as they had scored less tries.[11]

During the 2003-2004 Heineken Cup, Chabal and Bourgoin played against Munster and Gloucester in the group stage. On the 6 December 2003, Bourgoin lost their first match at home against the Irish province 17-18. Chabal scored the only try of the encounter, but Ronan O'Gara scored six penalty kicks.[12] One week later, Bougoin suffered a heavy defeat away at the hands of Gloucester 49-13, with Chabal again scoring the only try for his team.[13] Bourgoin lost against Gloucester at home, and lost five of six matches during their 2003-2004 European campaign, finishing third in their pool and eliminated from the competition.[14] On 25 January 2004, the head coach of Bourgoin, Philippe Saint-André, was sacked after he applied for the position of head coach of the Welsh national team, left vacant following the departure of Steve Hansen.[15] The ambitious plan for Borgoin initiated by Laurent Seigne under the direction of Pierre Martinet and Patrick Sébastien had ended.[16]

English experience

Following the departure of Saint-André, and after six years wearing the blue jersey of Bourgoin, Chabal wanted to change his horizons and continue his professional development as a player at another club. He wished to join Stade Toulousain, but the club of the Pink City made no offer for his services.[17]. However, Saint-André, now sporting director at Sale Sharks, signed him on a two year contract with the Manchester outfit.[18][19] Although Chabal had played at flanker throughout his time at Bourgoin, Saint-André selected him at Template:Number 8 in his first match for Sale.

The 2004-2005 English premiership marked the return of Sale Sharks to the top flight of the English premiership under the guidance of Saint-André. In their first two matched of the season, Sale, with Sébastien Chabal, won against both Leicester Tigers[20] and London Wasps,[21], the favourites for the title that year[22] The English club won the 2004-05 European Challenge Cup beating Section Paloise 27-3 in the final. This was the first title won by Chabal. The Sharks lost their 2004-05 domestic league semi-final 43-22 against the eventual victors London Wasps, despite a try from Chabal,[23] but finished the season in third place, securing their place in the 2005–06 Heineken Cup. By the end of the season, Chabal had made the position of Sharks No. 8 position his own.

Chabals second season with the English outfit brought more success. First, Sale reached the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup losing to Biarritz Olympique. Earlier in the group stages, Chabal was the victim of a gang tackle by Paul O'Connell and Anthony Foley during Sale's group-deciding match against Munster at Thomond Park. Chabal had only just caught a Ronan O'Gara restart when he was hit hard and driven back into his teams 22. The tackle was to turn the match in Munster's favour and established something of a stigma for Chabal against the Irish province (as he would be hit hard a number times by Munster centre Lifeimi Mafi in a match during the 2008-2009 season again with a crowd-pleasing outcome). Nevertheless back in the English league, Sale won the 2005–06 Guinness Premiership by beating London Wasps 22-12 in the semi-final[24] before defeating Leicester Tigers 45-20 in the final.[25][26] His two year contract now up, Chabal turned down an offer to join Stade Toulousain and extended his contract with the Sharks for a further year.[17]

The 2006-2007 season was not as successful as 2005-2006. Sale finished sixth in the Guinness Premiership and were eliminated in the group stages of the Heineken Cup. However, during the group stages of the Heineken Cup, Sale played against Stade Français and during the match in Paris, Chabal scored an interception try from Agustín Pichot, running 50 metres to the line.[27] Following this performance, Chabal was selected for the French national side for the 2007 Six Nations Championship.

The 2007-2008 season was met with more success than the 2006-07, with victories against some of the best teams in the domestic championship, but a home defeat to London Irish on the last day of the regular season confined Sale to finishing the season in fifth place. However, this guaranteed them a place in the 2008–09 Heineken Cup having played in the 2007-08 European Challenge Cup. During the quarter-final of the European Challenge Cup against CA Brive, Chabal scored the first of six tries for the English side, but injured his knee.[28] This injury forced him out of action for one month, during which Sale lost 36-14 to Bath Rugby in the semi-finals. In December 2007, Chabal extended his contract with Sale for a further two years.[29]

For the 2008-2009 season, Saint-André started playing Chabal in the Template:Second row instead of his more usual position of No. 8 or flanker. During the group stages of the Heineken Cup, Sale were grouped with Munster and ASM Clermont, losing against both and depriving Sale and Chabal from the final phases of the competition[30][31]. In the domestic competition, Sale were on course for a place in the playoffs but not for a European competition place. However, in the penultimate game of the regular season, Chabal scored an important try that gave Sale an important bonus point and a place in the European competition.[32][33] Despite this, during the last day of the regular season, although Sale won their match, results elsewhere led to Sale missing out on the play-offs and terminating the season for Chabal.[34]

Philippe Saint-André had announced in December 2008 that he was to leave Sale Sharks at the end of the 2008-09 season with Kingsley Jones named as his successor.[35][36]. Chabal had already announced that he wished to return to play in France, his family having already left England in September 2008.[37]

After five years at Sale, Chabal officially signed a three-year contract with the French club Racing Métro 92 in April 2009.[38] The French club were recently promoted to the Top 14 in 2009 after winning the Pro D2 with three rounds to spare. They also signed Lionel Nallet and the South Africans François Steyn and Jacques Cronjé.

International career

Although Chabal is primarily a back-row player, former France coach Bernard Laporte frequently used him as a Template:Lock. In a 2007 interview, Chabal said that Laporte called him just before the France squad was announced for the 2007 World Cup and told him, "I really want to pick you but to play second row." Chabal accepted Laporte's offer.[39]

At France's loss to England in the semi-final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Chabal was visibly distraught, as they failed to make it to the Final.

Chabal was not included in Les Bleus squad for the 2008 Six Nations. He expressed a desire to continue to represent his country, and believed that omission from the June tour to Australia would indicate that he was out of reckoning for France's 2011 World Cup preparations. On 9 June 2008 he was recalled to the France squad for their Australian tour. He was selected in the French squad for the 2008 Autumn internationals. He was called once again for the 2009 Six Nations.

Shane Richardson, Chief Executive of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, revealed the club had contacted Chabal's management to inquire about the possibility he would play "a portion of his season with the club."[40] The club was unsuccessful.

Chabal was granted an early release from his contract by the Sale Sharks and will leave the club at the end of the 2008-09 Guinness Premiership season. He will return home to France, and has revealed that Toulon, Montpellier, and Racing Métro are amongst some of the clubs vying for his services.[41]

On 30 April 2009, it was announced that Chabal had signed a 3 year contract with Racing Métro, who were promoted from the Pro D2 to the Top 14 after the club won the 2008-09 Championship. He will be joined at the club by France captain Lionel Nallet, who has also signed a 3 year contract with the club.[42]

References

  1. ^ Arnaud Coudry (10 October 2008). "Sébastien Chabal revient pour jouer les premiers rôles". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 26 March 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help).
  2. ^ Rodolphe Rolland (21 November 2008). "Chabal ou mi-Chabal ?". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 26 March 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  3. ^ "Rugby : Sébastien Chabal, un Poilu chez les épilés". Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). AP. 4 September 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e Stéphanie Platat (30 July 2007). "Dur au cuir". Libération (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b c Gérard Muteaud (30 August 2007). "Chabal, sérial plaqueur". Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  6. ^ "Image de la femme de Sébastien Chabal". famille2foot.skyrock.com (in French). October 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  7. ^ a b Ronan Folgoas (12 March 2009). "Chabal pense à Toulon". Sportweek (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Éric Gourdoux (31 January 2009). "Portrait : Rencontrer - Sébastien Chabal intime". www.coolture.fr/ (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  9. ^ Gérald Mathieu (12 october 2007). "Chabal, l'homme qui fait trembler toute l'Angleterre". Sportweek (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "Sharks bitten by Bourgoin". BBC. 11 October 2002. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Bourgoin cut down Sale". BBC. 18 January 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "O'Gara sinks Bourgoin". BBC. 6 December 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Injury mars Gloucester win". BBC. 13 December 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  14. ^ "Bourgoin 18-37 Gloucester". BBC. 24 January 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  15. ^ "Saint-Andre sacked over Wales job". BBC. 25 January 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Arnaud Tillous (August 2002). "Philippe Saint-André : « Plus de pression en France »". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 21 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  17. ^ a b "Sébastien Chabal: Sea Bass swims with the Sharks". The Independent. 7 January 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  18. ^ "Double signing for Sharks". BBC. 22 April 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  19. ^ "Chabal et Todd à Sale". L'Équipe. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 6 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |auteur= (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  20. ^ Mike Averis (6 September 2004). "Leicester left for dead by Chabal Sale 26 - 19 Leicester". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  21. ^ Thomas Castaignède (13 September 2004). "Sale boom with Saint-André and Chabal the cartonneur". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  22. ^ These two clubs finished first and second that season at the end of the regular season and met in the final where Wasps beat Leicester 34-19 to win the title.
  23. ^ Jamie Jackson (8 May 2005). "Wasps on course for third". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  24. ^ Robert Kitson (15 May 2006). "Robinson's slice of magic helps Sale end Wasps' reign Sale 22 - 12 Wasps". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  25. ^ Michael Aylwin (28 May 2006). "Hodgson gets real kick out of grinding Tigers into the dirt Sale 45 - 20 Leicester". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  26. ^ Robert Kitson (29 May 2006). "Sale driven to new heights by saviour Saint-André Sale 45 - 20 Leicester". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  27. ^ Pierrick Taisne (10 December 2006). "Heineken Cup - Stade Français - Sale : 27-16 - Paris s'est fait peur". rugby365.fr. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  28. ^ "Rugby - Ch.Européen - Sale-Brive : 49-24". L'Équipe. 4 April 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |auteur= (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  29. ^ "The quiet life keeps Seabass at Sale". BBC. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  30. ^ "Sale 16-24 Munster". BBC. 19 October 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  31. ^ "Munster 37-14 Sale". BBC. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  32. ^ "Premiership: Chabal offre l'Europe à Sale" (in French). 17 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  33. ^ "Sale down Quins' colours". 17 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  34. ^ Andy Wilson (25 April 2009). "Mathew Tait earns Sale's bonus point but results elsewhere mean Sharks miss out on the play-offs". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  35. ^ "Philippe Saint-André quittera Sale en fin de saison" (in French). 4 December 2008. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |auteur= (help); Unknown parameter |consulté le= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |éditeur= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ Duncan Bech. "Jason Robinson takes charge at Sale". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |sate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  37. ^ "Rugby - XV de France - Chabal : « Je vais rentrer »". L'Équipe. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  38. ^ "Rugby-Racing-Metro - Nallet et Chabal ont signé". L'Équipe. AFP. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  39. ^ "Chabal backs France for home glory". RugbyRugby.com. 2007-08-28. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
  40. ^ "Souths boss tried to lure hulking French Caveman into Rabbits' warren". Fairfax Digital. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  41. ^ "Sale ready for Sébastien Chabal au revoir". Times Online. 2008-12-26. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  42. ^ "Sebastien Chabal and Lionel Nallet join Racing-Metro". Telegraph.co.uk. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-04-30.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sébastien_Chabal&oldid=349815810"