sport news The caveman and the peacock: Meet fearsome but enigmatic France star Sebastian ... trends now
‘Tu parle en Francais?’ asks Sebastian Chabal, offering a handshake so strong that you fear your knuckles could be crushed if the answer is ‘non’.
This is the same man who sent tremors of panic through a press conference at the 2007 World Cup when a journalist asked for a question in English. ‘We are in France… we speak French,’ said the most intimidating player in the game, walking out of the room to leave his inquisitor quivering in their seat.
Fast forward 16 years and Chabal still has that menacing presence. His jawline has got even bigger – set like a ceramic kitchen sink – and his beard is worthy of an ancient sketch on a cave wall. Make any wrong move and you question if you will make it out of the room in one piece.
There is an unnerving air of mystery around Chabal. He has a Sunday night slot on French television but other than that he keeps himself to himself. It has taken a couple of years to track him down and we meet in a pokey storage room at the Rugby World Cup megastore in Marseille.
We have organised a translator – two, to be safe – and he lets out a deep bellow of laughter when I attempt to begin the conversation in French.
Sebastian Chabal (pictured) still has the menacing presence he had during his playing days
Chabal sent tremors of panic through a press conference at the 2007 World Cup
‘Are you a policeman?’ he replies in English, breaking into a huge smile when asked if he lives nearby. ‘Oh, no, you are a journalist… it’s the same!’ The two translators look at one another, realising they may not be needed after all as he cheerfully reflects on how much time has passed since he stopped playing.
He lives in Lyon, south-east France, having been retired for the best part of a decade. ‘I’m not living in the centre, I’m living outside, on a farm. A big field. Eight sheep, some chickens… and the big bird. What’s the name? An ostrich. It’s a male. There are no eggs but c’est beau. It’s nice. C’est bien. Not an ostrich… a peacock!’ Do not judge this book by its (very large) cover.
During his five years at Sale, Chabal became one of the game’s great cult heroes. Despite his huge frame – which seems bigger than the 6ft3 suggested on Wikipedia - he was often spotted driving around Manchester in a tiny Smart Car. ‘It’s not the same one but I still have a Smart Car,’ he reveals. ‘It’s easy to park in the city!’
His facial hair became iconic. The trademark of a Neanderthal-like figure who struck fear into journalists and rugby players alike. Now 45, it is tinged with grey. ‘I started to grow my beard when I first arrived in England. I didn’t speak English when I arrived in England so I didn’t want to go to the barbers because I was not sure if he would cut all of my hair. I just said nothing!
‘I arrived in England in 2004. I tried to watch English television to learn the language but after 15 days my head was fucked. I had an headache! I watched a bit of cricket. I went to one game but just to get smashed and have some beers because it’s what you do when you go to watch cricket. We don’t have it here in France.’
During his five years at Sale, Chabal (Left) became one of the game’s great cult heroes
Chabal bursts through to score a try during a match between France and Italy in 2009
Over the course of half an hour, Chabal switches between French and English, occasionally turning to the translators for help.
‘I really loved living in England. It was fantastic. When I arrived I had just had my little baby so it gave me the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my wife and my daughter. My life was quiet. In Sale we always had five or six players so there was a little bit of France there. If my wife hadn’t wanted to return to France, because my daughter was going to school, I think I would have finished my career in England.’
Chabal lifted the Premiership trophy with Sale in 2006. He became English rugby’s answer to Eric Cantona – ‘we don’t bullshit, we are both direct’ – as part of the French takeover of Manchester. Switching between lock and back-row, he played for France 62 times, pausing for thought when asked if there is one match that he treasures the most. ‘I hadn’t watched our final with Sale since we played it. Never. I watched it two or three months ago. I had thought it was a great game before but now I realise it was shit. It was raining, dropped balls. What a bad game! After that I thought it was better not to watch my games!’
He explains how he misses English breakfasts and revels in the brilliance of his then team-mate, Jason Robinson. ‘The little man… fantastique!’ Chabal’s reputation precedes him all these years later but it quickly becomes apparent that he is not the man we think he is.
‘I think some people are scared of me because of my image on the pitch. I was a tough player,
