Chabal's not the hair apparent

OPINION: Sebastien Chabal is a great character but he's not a great player.

The big Frenchman captures attention for his looks more than his game.

Don't get me wrong. He does have his attributes around the paddock.

As an athlete he is extremely strong, he's a big tackler and a devastating runner with the ball.

Against that, he's not entirely skilful and gets lost between operating as a lock and a loose forward. He doesn't do as much of the classic loose forward role in terms of a high work rate at rucks and mauls.

But whatever Chabal does do, he does with high impact.

That's fine when you are playing the Guinness Premiership or Super 14. But when you get to international level, basically everyone is like that. It takes someone absolutely incredible to be able to rely on just natural gifts like Jonah Lomu did back in the 1990s.

Now everyone is big, everyone is strong and you need to offer more in terms of work rate and skills. That's why Chabal has struggled to consistently make the French side.

But he is a cult hero and his huge personality is brilliant for the game. Heck, the hairy monster that's been dubbed the Cave Man is suddenly even fronting advertisements for New Zealand's largest chain of sports stores.

When he does play well he's inspiring to play with and can be daunting to play against. In many ways Chabal is a real barometer of the French mentality. They have enormous respect for the All Blacks but will never back down to them and you can expect that from Chabal if he plays the All Blacks next weekend.

Having played with the likes of Thomas Castaignede and Rafael Ibanez, I was surprised how true the stereotype we have of French players is. One day they can be absolutely brilliant, the next day they aren't worth having around.

But one thing is for sure – the French team that lines out against the All Blacks next weekend will be the real deal. And a lot of that will have to do with the venue in Marseille.

The power of French rugby is in the south. That is the spiritual home of their game. It's rough and tough and full of passion on and off the field.

If you want to play the French in France, then it's best to strike them in Paris which has a much more sterile atmosphere.

When you get to the south you realise what makes the French psyche tick. I've had that rammed home to me on a couple of occasions.

My first All Blacks tour was to France in 1995. We played the first test in the south at Toulouse and got absolutely destroyed. So much so, coach Laurie Mains and manager Colin Meads even called into question the manlihood of the All Blacks. The week after we played them in Paris and wiped them.

In 2000 we played them on Armistice Day.

Believe me, no team should beat France on Armistice Day but we did it easy in Paris.

The next week we turned up to the Stade Velodrome in Marseille and the French had transformed. They signalled that even before the match. The pansies from Paris were suddenly barging us around in the tunnel.

So this is a huge challenge for the All Blacks and a huge test in general. Graham Henry's side could only draw the series in New Zealand so in many ways this is the decider for the year. To have it played in Marseilles makes it much more difficult than what the All Blacks encountered in Dunedin and Wellington.

The Springboks found out the hard way last week how tough it is to play in the south when they lost their test in Toulouse.

France will be up for this. They rested the bulk of their side for their overnight test against Samoa, signalling their intentions for the All Blacks.

- © Fairfax NZ News