Shabal, Sebastien

Grew up in Beaumont-le-Valence, a small village in the suburbs of Valence . His father was a mechanic, his mother worked in a jewelry store. Passion for motors was transmitted from his father, so Shabal learned to become a milling turner and worked at the Salmson plant. At the same time he played rugby at an amateur level. After he left the milling job, he was able to sign a contract with the Bourgoin club. During the game in Bourguin, he married Annik and became the stepfather of her daughter, in 2005 the couple had a daughter, Lily-Rose.

The early years

Shabal first got into rugby at the age of 9, but after playing for 2 months he abandoned him. At 16, he returns to rugby with his two friends. Then, a passion for the game awakens in him, as well as for a fun pastime of the third halves (as a rule, a joint pastime (most often a booze) of all participants in a rugby match). At first he played for a local club in the 4th French division, and in 1998 he moved to Bourgoin, who then quite successfully played in the French Rugby High Division . There he played in the position of the flanker, his position of number 8 was taken. Shabal played at the highest level with the club and received a call to the French national team . He was part of a very talented generation of local pupils (Lionel Nalle, Julien Bonner, Olivier Millot, Pascal Pape and Benjamin Boyer - all played for the French team). This team reached several finals ( European Challenge Cup in 1999, semi-finalist of the French Championship 1999 and 2004, final of the French Cup 1999 and 2003), but they all lost.

In the Heineken Cup 2002/2003, the club played in the same group as Sale Sharks , the future Shabal team. In the first full-time game (victory 24-18), Shabal stopped with a powerful capture of Jason Roberts (172 cm tall), after which the player could not continue the meeting. They also won the return game.

The team performed very unsuccessfully in the Heineken Cup 2003/2004 , they were able to enter only two attempts and both were on the account of Shabal. Due to unsatisfactory results, the coach left the club Philippe San Andre, after which Sebastien also decides to leave the team after 6 seasons spent. At first he wanted to join one of the strongest clubs in France “ Toulouse ”, but he wasn’t offered any offers, so the player decided to go abroad to the Sale Sharks club, coached by his former coach Philippe San Andre.

English Career Phase

In 2004, Sebastien signed a two-year agreement with the English Sale Sharks from Sale (Greater Manchester) . Upon arrival at the new club, the player immediately received flattering ratings from the coach ^[4] . In the new club, he began to play in the 8th position.

In the 2004-05 season of the English championship, the club began for health, in the first two games the main contenders for the title were defeated: Leicester Tigers (26-19) ^[5] and London Wosp (30-33). As a result, the team finished the season in 3rd place, and lost in the playoffs in the semifinals of the London Wosps 43-22. At the European arena, the club won the European Challenge Cup (the second-strongest tournament), where in the final they rolled the French one and “Session Palois” or simply “Po” with a score of 27-3 ^[6] . This title was the first in Shabal’s career.

The second season has become even more successful. Firstly, the quarter- final of the Heineken Cup was reached. Where in the group stage in the game with “Manster” Paul O'Connell received a very powerful force (1.96 cm, 117 kg), and then Shabal himself noted a tough reception. In the domestic championship, in the playoff round, the London Wospes were beaten 22–12 ^[7] , and in the final of the Leicester Tigers 45–20 ^[8] . Thanks to a good game, Chabal extended his contract with the club for a year, despite the interest of the French teams ^[9] . The next season the club spends much weaker. In the championship only 6th place. In the European Cup, absenteeism from the group. However, in an away match against the Parisian Stud France , Chabal intercepted the ball from Augustine Picho and scored 50 yards with him and attempted ^[10] , as a result of a victory of 27-16. In December 2007, Shabal extended his contract for another 2 years.

The 2007-2008 season was more successful. The club took 5th place, if it had won the last match, then they would have become 4, but still managed to get into the Heineken Cup. During the quarterfinal match with Brive in the framework of the European Challenge Cup, Shabal made an attempt, but got a leg injury and missed a month ^[11] , during which the club lost in the semifinals.
Season 2008-09, both the club and the player could not win the trophies. At the end of the year, head coach Philippe San Andre announced that he was leaving the club in December. Shabal himself also expressed a desire to leave the team and move to France ^[12] , his family left England in September ^[13] .

Return to France

At the end of April 2009, the player signed a 3-year contract with the Racing Metro 92 club ^[14] , which at that moment had risen from the Second Division , but the club faced ambitious tasks: to get into the Heineken Cup by the 2010-11 season. In 2009-10, the club became the sixth, largely due to the fact that it conducted a powerful transfer campaign, the transfer of Shabal became an undoubted success in it. The player spent his debut match against Albi, where he came on as a substitute ^[15] . He made his first attempt in the match against Montpellier (18-14) ^[16] . And after two weeks, the player receives a knee ligament injury and is eliminated for 3 weeks ^[17] . At the end of 2009, he was recognized as the country's best athlete according to l'Equipe ^[18] .

In August 2010, he was the team captain, replacing the injured Lionel Nalle. He openly criticized the calendar, calling it “masquerade,” because the team had to play 3 games in 9 days, and also because of the short training time for players in the team ^[19] . In September 2010, he was a rugby player who earns the most in the world (1.8 million dollars or about 1 million euros, ^[20] and with advertising about 2 million euros) ^[21] .

In March 2011, Shabal is in good shape, playing very useful ^[22] . However, in mid-April, he said harsh words to the arbitrators ^[23] . For which he received a 60-day suspension, but on May 24 after the protest, he was reduced to 10 days ^[24] . Thanks to this, the player was able to participate in the playoff stage of the championship.

In early February 2012, the player and the club terminate the contract by mutual agreement due to the fact that there were disagreements between the player and the coach, although many associated this gap with the discussion of the player’s new contract ^[25] . After the contract was broken, Shabal briefly (for 1 game) went to Australia, to the club of the 3rd division “ Balmon Wolves ” ^[26] . There he puts in an attempt and, together with the club, won 15–9 ^[27] . In early April, Shabal signed a contract with the Lyon OU club ^[28] , which had just flown out of TOP-14 and intended to return, but failed to do this (season 2012-13 - 8th place).

Shabal ended his career after the 2013/2014 season. Like all the great players, Sebastien left on a major note - “Lyon” managed to win a promotion in the class (reaching the Top 14 ). Thus, he received another title for his impressive collection, and with a pure heart retired ^[29] .

France national team

Chabal made his debut for the national team on March 4, 2000, in a match against Scotland. At that time, the 22-year-old Shabal held only a couple of dozen top-level games. In June 2001, he was invited to the national team on a summer team tour (in summer, mainly in June-July, European teams fly to the Southern Hemisphere, and in November southern guests fly to Europe), against the teams of South Africa and New Zealand , and in November against Fiji . However, the player did not get into the application for the Six Nations Cup in 2002. He returned to the national team again during the summer tour of 2002 with the teams of Argentina and Australia , he also participated in the November matches and in the Six Nations Cup 2003 (3rd place).

In 2003, the player for the first time in his career went to the World Cup. Together with the team he took 4th place, losing in the match for 3rd place to the New Zealand team 40-13. Despite the defeat, France fought on equal terms for almost the entire match, was good at defense, and Chabal was its real leader ^[30] . During the championship, Shabal expressed dissatisfaction with the coach, for which he then did not call him into the national team for almost two years ^[31] , the coach officially said that stronger players played in his place. Shabal was returned to the national team in 2005 during a summer and autumn tour, but he does not go to the 2006 Six Nations Cup again.

In 2007, the player still got to the Six Nations Cup, the team took 1st place, in a victory match against Italy, Shabal made an attempt. During the test matches with Allblacks, Shabal at first with his signature grip simply knocked down Chris Masoe (183 cm, 106 kg), who was then easily knocked down and could hardly lift ^[32] , and then, as a result of a collision, his head broke the jaw of Ali Williams (202 cm, 118 kg). Here is a video of these episodes ^[33] . And the TV channel TF1, which broadcast the matches, made him the main media hero in the country at that time ^[21] . In June 2007 he was included in the list of players who will play at the home Rugby World Cup 2007 . On it, France again became only the fourth. In the opening match against Argentina, he only got a substitute, in the match against Namibia he left in the starting lineup and brought in two attempts, one of which turned out to be very beautiful, Shabal was able to break through almost the entire defense of the opponent. He also took part in an important victory over Ireland . In the quarter-finals and semifinals, he came on as a substitute to strengthen the game in the second half. After losing to England in the semifinals, Shabal left the field in tears. After the game, he was called to the disciplinary committee for a dangerous reception against Brian Shaw, but no sanctions followed. ^[34]

After this championship, the head coach of the Laporte national team resigns, he is replaced by Marc Lievremont. At first he ignored Shabal, but in the summer of 2008 he called him on a traditional southern tour against Australia and the Pacific Islands team. The coach was pleasantly surprised by the game of Shabal and took him to the 2009 Six Nations Cup. The player was criticized by the media, but the coach defended him, and he paid him an excellent game in the match against Italy (50-8).

In 2009, Shabal takes part in a summer tour and helps beat New Zealand 27-22. France lost the second game 10-14. Despite the defeat, France won the Dave Gallaghear trophy for the first time in its history thanks to the best points difference ^[35] . In the fall, the French beat South Africans (at that time world champions) 20-13. Shabal participates in the Six Nations Cup 2010, however, due to back pain, he is only replaced in three matches. For the first time, a player wins a Grand Slam (a reward given to a team that has won all matches of the Six Nations Cup). Shabal does not get to the 2011 World Cup, the coach said that he needs to heal his back injury and rest ^[36] . The last match for the national team Shabal played on March 12, 2011 against Italy (defeat 22-21).

His appearance, manner of play and physical data contributed to the fact that the player was given a lot of clicks. Firstly, he was called a “cartouche” - because he carried out particularly powerful captures (a cartouche - as they are called in the French way). In England, teammates gave the nickname “Sea Bass” ^[37] (as some have suggested, this nickname also meant that the club managed to “catch” the big fish). In 2007, after a memorable match with Allblacks, the New Zealand media gave him the nickname “Caveman” ^[38] (in honor of his appearance, and also referring to Ka-mate 's words “hairy man who brought the sun”). British and South African journalists call him the "French Beast" (for the style of the game). The Italians called him “Anesthesiologist”, and the French themselves “Attila” ^[39] . There are also less common nicknames: “Hannibal” or “Hannibal Lecturer” (again because of appearance), also in “Bourgoin” a funny incident happened to him: while the whole team went to bed, he had to sleep on the street so that not to interfere with partners, because he snores very much, for which he received the nickname "Husqvarna" (in honor of the chainsaw) ^[31] .

The player changed his image at some stages of his career. Long hair and a beard became part of his image after moving to England. According to him, he didn’t invent anything on purpose, just moving to the island he spoke English very hesitantly and was afraid to go to the hairdresser because of this, and he didn’t have enough willpower (or ordinary laziness) to shave himself, which is why he acquired such a specific appearance ^[40] .

Sebastia Chabal is one of the most popular athletes in France, and the most popular rugby player. Therefore, using his popularity, he seriously increases his income. Its popularity is so high that there is even a special term - “Shabbalmania”, its peak fell on the home world rugby championship in 2007, when its image did not leave the television screens. In 2007, he hires an agent who is responsible for his advertising contracts. He signs several contracts advertising the Karo men's perfume, Seat cars, XXL wines, and more ^[41] . Johnny Wilkinson was the first rugby player to sign a personal contract with Adidas ; Shabal did not lag behind; in 2006, he was recruited by Puma ^[42] .

In parallel with advertising contracts, he launched, in partnership with the Norprotex group, the Ruckfield clothing line in 2009 (the word cancer - the position from rugby) is used in this name ^[43] . According to him, in this way he thinks about his future, because he is already 31 and his rugby career is heading towards sunset. Thus, Shabal was (since 2007) the highest paid rugby player, but he is still far from football players and some other athletes.

In February 2009, Clint Eastwood planned to shoot the movie “ Unconquered ” (with Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman ), where he wanted to use Shabal as a player in the South African national team. However, due to the busy schedule of the athlete, this venture failed ^[44] . Nevertheless, in 2010 he voiced the yeti from the eponymous cartoon. He is also a representative of the organization "Peace and Sport", along with another 40 athletes, who are fighting for world peace ^[45] .

In April 2011, he published his autobiography called My Little Star.

Bourgoin

• Finalist of the European Challenge Cup : 1999 (1)
• Финалист Кубка Франции: 1999, 2003 (2)

« Сейл Шаркс »

• Чемпион Англии: 2006 (1)
• Победитель Европейского кубка вызова : 2005 (1)
• Победитель Трофея чемпионов: 2006 (1)

« Расинг Метро 92 »

• Полуфиналист Французской лиги : 2011 (1)

« Лион ОУ »

• Победитель Про Д2 : 2013\2014 (1)

Сборная Франции

• Победитель Кубка шести наций: 2007, 2010 (2)
• 4-е место на Чемпионате мира: 2003, 2007

В еврокубках ( Европейский кубок вызова и Кубок Хейнекен ) Себастьян за 53 игры сделал 13 попыток. Он участвовал в 7 сезонах различных кубков ^[46] . В сборной он провел 62 игры и занёс 6 попыток ^[47] . Он принимал участие в семи Кубках шести наций (2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 и 2011) и двух Чемпионатах мира (2003 и 2007).