When Sebastian Chabal received the ball on the half-way line in France’s RWC 2007 group match against Namibia, he set off on a 50m solo run that bounced off, evaded, and smashed through at least five Namibian defenders before diving over the try-line to cement his place in Rugby World Cup 2007 folklore.
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Yes, it was ‘only’ Namibia, who were down to 14 men, and yes, more spectacular tries have been (and will be) scored, but this try, and the rousing ovation he received when substituted shortly afterwards, were the latest in a series of events that have given the “Caveman” status as a cult hero among the world’s rugby followers.
France’s victory over New Zealand last weekend has only fanned the flames.
A man among men Chabal, who stands 1.92 m tall and weighs in at 114 kg (Victor Matfield is 2 m tall and 109 kg) is a man among men – seemingly an outstanding specimen in a game where physical stature and strength are prerequisites for success. Perhaps it is the beard and the hair (which captured more media attention than some of the group matches at RWC 2007 after Chabal announced that he was to visit the barber). But Chabal is more than just a prehistoric warrior lookalike.
According to Scott Pearson, the assistant coach at the Sale Sharks of England’s Premiership, where Chabal plays away from the international game, Sebastian Chabal has the lowest body fat percentage of any forward in the squad. The Sale Sharks, as is the norm for professional teams, have established ‘minimum requirements’ for players in each position in a range of fitness and health assessments. For the Sale Sharks, the forwards must have body fat percentages lower than 15% - Chabal is at 7%.
To compare this to South Africa’s fitness norms, props and locks are allowed 12% body fat; hookers 11%; loose forwards 10%; and the backs 9%. Chabal plays at lock for France, and in the loose forwards for his club side, so either way, he’s comfortably ahead of the norm. He is even well beneath the minimum requirements for the backs.
No dead weight What is the big deal? Well, according to Pearson, the lower body fat percentage means that Chabal is carrying no dead weight. This in turn enables him to be such an explosive player. ‘His game is about high-impact pace and power,’ writes Pearson. ‘It’s very physical and demanding physiologically, especially when you’re playing in the second row which is where he plays for his country. It’s a very energy-sapping position - the scrum soaks it all up. That’s why France tends to use him as a 20-minute man at the end of the game.’
While this is true, it is probably a slight oversimplification. Think, for example, of Os du Randt. He is as powerful they come, with explosive speed and strength to which many opposition forwards will testify. In fact, it’s pretty well known that Os, and some of the other front-rowers, are about as fast as the speedy backs over short (less than 15m) sprints. The big gaps only start to appear later – in a short race, 120kg can match 90kg. But, and this is said with the utmost respect, Os doesn’t have a body fat percentage of 7%.
To suggest that he would become even more explosive by lowering this fat percentage is simplistic, because there is always a compromise between size and strength – a smaller Os is likely to be less strong, unless he makes up for any loss of mass with muscle, and that becomes incredibly difficult once you reach the physical dimensions of an elite rugby player, with the demands of the game.
Strength vs. weight One of the major challenges faced by rugby players is the conflict between improving fitness, reducing body fat percentage and remaining strong. Simply losing weight doesn’t cut it, because reduced size means less weight behind the tackles and in scrums.
It is for this reason that professional rugby players have evolved to be big and muscular. The problem, in the case of the props, is that they tend to also gain weight in the form of body fat. This is necessary, because they work in the scrums, where this weight is part of their armour. But for the locks, loose forwards and the backs, excessive dead weight is a handicap, and so the objective is to increase size without increasing body fat percentage.
This is something Chabal has managed. According to Pearson, Chabal has ‘put on 7kg but remained at under 10% body fat. That’s been a major part of his moving from the fringes of the French team to be one of their key players.’ The leaner (and meaner) Chabal is able to repeat the explosive efforts more often, and keep them up longer, since he is carrying less weight without sacrificing muscle.
Athletes like Chabal do incredibly high intensity, short duration training. There is little cardiovascular training such as cycling or running. Instead, the focus is on very heavy weight lifting, no more than eight repetitions at a time. As for the running, 10-second sprints, repeated a dozen times, is the extent of it for Chabal. He has geared all his training towards high-impact, explosive rugby. It would be almost self-defeating for Chabal to attempt to increase his endurance by doing longer running or cycling training, because the energy demand of doing these activities would compromise his ability to remain what is called ‘anabolic’ – in a state of growth.
A juggernaut Of course, training only goes so far. It has to be combined with a natural ability and a desire to perform, which Chabal seems to have in abundance. Stories from his youth become more folkloric with every retelling. He was apparently introduced to rugby at the age of 16, and taught how to tackle. ‘Chase after the guy carrying the ball and hit him hard,’ they said. He did, and said guy was a write-off. In attack, they told him to run with the ball and pass it when tackled. Having run through three tackles, he scored but then remembered he was supposed to pass, and apologised profusely.
He shot to stardom during a tour of New Zealand, where he put in two tackles that built the legend. The first was on Chris Masoe, who was hit so hard he kept falling down when he tried to stand up. The second was on Ali Williams, breaking his jaw and giving him a month of eating just soup. So in addition to his other qualities, there’s a certain raw aggression that contributes to the legend that is Chabal. You may have noticed, during this weekend’s haka, how he stared down the usually formidable All Blacks as if he would like to eat them.
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