Bling ! (Youtube)/ GBLGBD (Youtube)
By Joël Pütz | Sports journalist
Icon of the French rugby team, Sébastien Chabal regularly crossed swords with New Zealand during his career. The colossus also had a strong opinion on their captain Richie McCaw, as recounted in his autobiography.
Antoine Dupont is well on his way to becoming the best French rugby player of all time, but it is difficult to match Sébastien Chabal in terms of cult image. It must be said that the former player had everything to become iconic among fans: a terrifying physique (1m91 and 113 kilos), a thick beard which earned him the nickname “Caveman” on the grass and a power rarely observed in football. history of its discipline.
What also made him gain popularity was his ability not to be intimidated by the famous Haka of the New Zealand team, a veritable tyrant of rugby for decades. Proof of this is the 2007 World Cup where the Blues defeated their opponents in the quarter-finals (20-18), a match during which Chabal had obviously exerted all his weight to ensure victory.
At that time, the famous “All Blacks” did not lack talent within their selection, starting with the legendary Richie McCaw who was their captain. Chabal had also made very clear remarks about him in his autobiography:
He’s as insufferable as he is talented, which is saying something.
Former adversaries, Sébastien Chabal bluntly on Richie McCaw
Double world champion with his country, McCaw was also three times the best player on the planet between 2006 and 2010. Absolutely unstoppable during this period, the superstar necessarily enjoyed a status giving him certain privileges… including with the refereeing body, which the former forward openly regretted:
The worst part is that he doesn’t even hide. He doesn’t do his nasty tricks on the sly but in full view of everyone. He would be wrong to be embarrassed: no one says anything to him, no one ever sanctions him, he benefits from total impunity. (…) It drives me crazy that he is never penalized. And it’s not jealousy that makes me speak: I adore this guy, I have the greatest admiration for what he accomplishes on the pitch.
But I find it regrettable that his reputation as “the best rugby player in the world” distorts the situation and exerts an influence on the referees.
Particularly harsh words from the Habs, even if he did not hide in his book that he still had deep respect for the former leading figure of the Kiwis.
Richie McCaw was the best player in the world at the end of the 2000s, enough to allow him to do what he wanted on the pitch even if it meant breaking the rules. No wonder Sébastien Chabal wanted all the more to bring down the All Blacks.