FRANCE

Chabal: France will attack more

Wednesday 02nd July 2008

No looking back: Chabal says France will come out firing in the last game of their season

French loose forward-turned-lock S�bastien 'the Cavemen' Chabal is one of only a handful of players to retain his place in les Bleus starting XV to face the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday and says his team will come out attacking.

France coach Marc Li�vremont has made wholesale changes to his team ahead of the second Test in Brisbane, but Chabal, who was overlooked for the Six Nations, will continue his partnership with captain Lionel Nallet in the second row that also forms the core of the French leadership.

At 30-years of age, Chabal is one of the few 'old heads' in the French camp. The Sale Sharks number eight is also one of the 'hard men' in the team and was at the centre of the battle with the Wallaby forwards - a task which has left its mark.

"I'm pretty tired to be honest. I've gotten over the jet-lag but it's been hard to recuperate. I'm a bit sore, for sure. But I think it'll be better on Saturday," Chabal told French website rugbyrama.

Li�vremont's squad is so full of youngsters, Chabal's relative age makes him stand out a bit. But "Sea Bass" believes that the team's young players' motivation will give France the impetus they need at Suncorp Stadium.

"[I feel stuck] between the devil and the deep blue sea [amongst all these youngsters]!" he joked.

"It's true, with Lionel (Nallet) we're getting a bit old. At 30, can you believe it! (laughs). Seriously, it's good to make changes, it's going to add a bit of spunk and liveliness to the team. We need it to march back into battle."

Standing 1m91 (6 ft 3") tall and weighing 120 kg (19 st), Chabal isn't afraid of much, and is confident France can challenge an improving Australia side this weekend.

"Our team is balanced and solid. Up front, we've got experience, we're streetwise and aggressive. We'll be fine there, I'm convinced," he said.

"We'll have to see how the youngsters in the back-line perform. But I've seen them in training and I think it shouldn't be bad. Those youngsters want to tear the field apart."

After Australia's blitz early in the second half of the Sydney Test, France had the upper hand in most of the exchanges in the last quarter. The Wallabies have said the are not concerned with the way the game ended, but Chabal believes differently.

"On the field, the feeling I got was a bit different. In the last twenty minutes, I was in the red zone. But it's certain, we finished stronger than they did," he commented.

"We were the ones attacking in the last 25 minutes. We imposed our rhythm even if we were very tired on the field. It's a good sign for us. It means that we can match them physically.

"It'll be even higher in intensity because we are going try attack more with the ball we get, take more initiatives. We watched the video of the game and we saw that there were occasions where we could have run it rather than kick. It's the last match of the season, we're going to it our all.