Top 14: Chabal weighing up his
options; Injuries force Garbajosa into retirement
29 December 2008
French
international Sebastien Chabal says he is still unsure which
Top 14 club he will play for when he returns home at the end
of this season.
The
talismanic forward, known as “Seabass”, is heading back to
France after four years with the Sale Sharks in England,
with Montpellier being tipped as his likely destination.
The
ambitious Top 14 club are apparently close to signing
Chabal’s international second-row colleague (and captain)
Lionel Nallet from Castres, and have been further boosted by
young stars Louis Picamoles, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Francois
Trinh-Duc and Julien Tomas all signing contract extensions.
But
Chabal has spoken in the past of wishing to continue working
with Philippe Saint-Andre, the Sharks’ French coach who has
also confirmed he will be heading back to France at the end
of the season.
Speculation in the press has linked Saint-Andre heavily with
Toulon, where current incumbent Tana Umaga is struggling
with an ongoing battle against relegation.
Chabal
was Saint-Andre’s first signing at Sale and while he has
admitted to a passion for Manchester and the club, he has
also made it clear that personal reasons – rather than
professional ones - are behind his desire to depart.
“I can’t
live in Manchester with my family living in France,”
confirmed the 31-year-old in a report in The Times.
“I have
to be happy to play well on the pitch. Happiness is being
with my family. I have played here for four and a half
years. My wife now lives to the south of Lyons, where we are
from, with my daughters.
“They
have spent four years with me, but with this sort of
weather, so now it is time to go back to France. I don’t
know where I will play over there. I have a few offers from
Toulon, Montpellier, Racing Club de France and others, but I
don’t know yet,” he said.
“I don’t
know whether I would want to stay in the south of France or
go to Paris. I don’t really have a preference – I just want
to go back to France.
“Of course it will be sad to leave Sale. I
signed a deal last year for two more years with an option
for a third and I really wanted to go to the end of this
contract, but there are some things much more important than
rugby – the family. I am playing in a great team. We have
been successful in the past and I hope, before I leave, we
will be successful. I think we have the squad to do it.”
Saint-Andre, meanwhile, was equally non-committal about
where he will be plying his trade next season. “I have not
made any decision about my future other than that I shall be
leaving,” he confirmed.
“I have
had some offers from clubs in France and some from the UK,
but I don’t know yet what I am going to do. I feel like
taking six months off from the game.”
However,
he did add intriguingly: “I would like to go to a club where
there is a lot of work to do, as there was at Bourgoin,
Gloucester and Sale. I enjoy putting the structure in place.
It excites me identifying young talent.”
Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal
has confirmed he is in contact with Saint-Andre, but warned
that the in-demand coach was also attracting offers from a
number of other clubs.
The
outspoken president also said he was currently reviewing the
playing squad at the Top 14 strugglers and questioned team
selection following their latest reverse, a 33-8 hammering
by Montpellier.
“With us
it is the policy not to play the best players,” he said
sarcastically after Sonny Bill Williams and Joe van Niekerk
had both been excluded from the starting XV against
Montpellier.
Finally,
Bayonne’s Xavier Garbajosa has called time on his
playing career after a series of injuries.
The
32-year-old former French international hasn’t played for
six months following a knee cartilage injury and has finally
decided enough is enough.
“I’m
frustrated to finish like this. At night I still dream that
I can play and I see myself on the field, but deep down I
know that it’s over,” he admitted.
“I
cannot put myself out on the field any more and I don’t want
to stand in the way of a young player,” he told L’Equipe.
“In this way I am helping my club.”
The
former Toulouse star played 32 times for his country, with
his last cap against England in 2003.
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