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French rugby legend Chabal set to retire

The iconic former French international Sebastien Chabal, or "The Beast" as he was more affectionately known, anounced on Monday that he will retire from the sport next weekend. See some of his best moments in these videos.

Published: 5 May 2014 16:09 CEST

French rugby legend Chabal set to retire

Sebastian "The Beast" Chabal is retiring from rugby, the star announced on Monday. Photo: Bertrand Langlois/AFP

The 36-year-old Chabal won 62 caps for France as a powerhouse lock and back row forward, and his last act will come on Sunday when he turns out a final time for Lyon, his current club which he has helped seal promotion from the ProD2 to the Top 14.

"On Sunday I will call a halt to my career as a rugby player and a high-level sportsman," Chabal said.

"I realise how lucky I've been, and to have the opportunity to call it a day with a title and finish the mission for which I came: helping Lyon win promotion."

Chabal, standing 1.91 metres tall and weighing 115 kg, became a cult figure in rugby circles with his barn-storming style of play allied with his thick black beard and flowing locks.

It allowed the forward to become one of the best paid rugby players in France thanks to lucrative commercial contracts that played on his on-field reputation and shaggy look.

Chabal played for Bourgoin (1998-2004) and English club Sale (2004-2009) before switching to Racing Metro in 2009 and then moving on to Lyon in 2012.

He played in two Six Nations-winning French sides in 2007 and 2010, and was an English Premiership winner in 2005 at Sale.

Such was Chabal's international draw, he even made a one-game cameo for minor Australian club side Balmain against Petersham in 2012 as a curtain-raiser to a Waratahs v Reds Super Rugby game.

The video below, posted on YouTube is a tribute to the legend of French rugby.

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French rugby in turmoil as FFR boss gets suspended sentence over corruption

French rugby was reeling Tuesday after the president of the country’s governing body Bernard Laporte was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence on corruption charges nine months before France hosts the game’s World Cup.

Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) president Laporte, 58, was convicted after a French court ruled he showed favouritism in awarding a shirt sponsorship contract for the national side to Mohed Altrad, the billionaire owner of Top 14 champions Montpellier. He was also banned from holding any rugby post for two years. Both are suspended pending an appeal, which Laporte’s lawyer said was imminent.

Laporte later stepped down from his role as vice-chairman of the sport’s global governing body, World Rugby, pending a review by the body’s ethics officer.

“World Rugby notes the decision by World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte to self-suspend from all positions held within its governance structures with immediate effect following his conviction by the French court in relation to domestic matters, and pending his appeal,” World Rugby said.

“While acknowledging Laporte’s self-suspension and right of appeal, given the serious nature of the verdict World Rugby’s Executive Committee has referred the matter to its independent ethics officer for review in accordance with its integrity code,” it added.

Resignation call
Laporte faces problems on the domestic front, too, with Florian Grill, who narrowly lost to him in the 2020 election for federation chief, calling for Laporte and the entire board to stand down.

“It is unheard of in rugby, this is an earthquake,” Grill told AFP. “We have never before seen a president of the federation condemned to two
years in prison, even if it suspended.

“We think the 40 members of the board of directors should draw the obvious conclusions and resign.”

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said the sentence was an “obstacle for Bernard Laporte to be able, as it stands, to continue his mission in good conditions” as federation president, and called for a “new democratic era to allow French rugby to rebound as quickly as possible and sufficiently healthy and solid, with a governance by the federation that will have the full confidence of the clubs”.

The court found that Laporte ensured a series of marketing decisions favourable to Altrad – who was given an 18-month suspended sentence and
€50,000 euro — in exchange for a €180,000 image licensing contract that was never actually carried out.

Altrad’s lawyer said he would study the decision before deciding on whether to appeal.

At the trial’s close in September, prosecutors said they were seeking a three-year prison sentence for Laporte, of which he should serve one behind bars, and the two others on probation.

The friendship and business links between Laporte and Altrad are at the heart of the case.

It goes back to February 2017, when they signed a deal under which Laporte agreed to appear at Altrad group conferences, and sold his image reproduction rights, in return for €180,000.

But while that sum was paid to Laporte, prosecutors claim that he neveractually provided the services he signed up for.

Laporte did, however, make several public statements backing Altrad and, in March 2017, signed the €1.8 million deal with the businessman making his namesake firm the first-ever sponsor to appear on the French national team’s jerseys.

The Altrad name and logo still features on the shirts thanks to a follow-up deal negotiated by Laporte in 2018 and which prosecutors say bears all the hallmarks of corruption. It is also on the All Blacks’ national squads’ shirts, and New Zealand Rugby is reportedly seeking an urgent meeting with company officials following the court ruling.

Laporte, formerly a highly successful coach who guided France twice to the World Cup semi-finals (2003 and 2007), was also found guilty of favouritism
with regards to Altrad’s Montpellier Herault Rugby (MHR) club.

He was convicted for intervening with French rugby’s federal disciplinary commission to reduce a fine against the club from €70,000 to €20,000 after several telephone calls from Laporte.

While prosecutors saw this and several more incidents as proof of illicit favouritism, Laporte himself had claimed there was no “cause-effect relationship”.

On the last day of the trial in October, Laporte’s lawyer Fanny Colin accused the prosecution of “confirmation bias” by “taking into account only elements backing their original assumptions”.

The verdict comes only nine months before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France on September 8, 2023, with matches played in nine stadiums across the country.

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