Chabal could quit Sale at the end of the season
Chabal could return to France at the end of the season
Also In The News
|
Manchester United were far too strong for Celtic at Old Trafford, strolling to a comfortable 3-0 win in the Champions League. |  |
Wednesday, 22, Oct 2008 09:35
Sale Sharks back-row forward Sebastien Chabal has admitted he could leave the club at the end of the season.
The French international says he is enjoying playing for the club but may have to return to his homeland for family reasons.
Chabal is contracted to Sale until 2011 but the final year of his contract is optional. Thus he could leave the club at the end of this year with only one season to pay up on his existing contract.
The 30-year-old joined the Sharks from Bourgoin in 2004 and has since attained cult status at the club.
He told French newspaper L'Equipe: "Personally, I want to stay at Sale where I am playing at the heart of a very good team. I feel good there, but there are personal reasons which mean I could return to France."
Chabal has enjoyed his time with Sale so much that he even rejected a blockbuster offer from French club Toulon this summer but his change in personal circumstances could force him to reconsider.
He added: "My eldest [child] is studying in France and it is true that my wife, who has also stayed in France with the little one, hasn't come back since the end of the [summer] holidays.
"At the moment, I am coming and going and it is weighing on me."
Chabal said he would not have raised the issue but Sale director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre encouraged him to be honest with himself about the situation.
The forward explained: "I wouldn't have wanted to speak about it so early in the season but it was Philippe who brought up the subject. He said: 'You can't continue like this. You could return to France next season.'
"It was just an idea thrown out there by Philippe [Saint-Andre]."
Although a move back to France seems the likeliest option for Chabal his agent Miguel Fernandez claimed: "For the moment, we have had no contact with any French club."
Chabal has earned 30 caps for France, during his time with Sale he has won the European Challenge Cup in 2005 and the Guinness Premiership title in 2006.