French coach says scary Chabal can't wait to snarl at England

Twenty-two angry men shuffling up across the half-way line to snarl at the All Blacks' haka while being led by an apparently frothing neanderthal.

While a country whooped in anticipation at the images of their favourite caveman Sebastien Chabal offering his inimitable sneer of defiance, Ellis, the Englishman charged with halting his compatriots' World Cup dream on Saturday, couldn't help a wry smile as he reflected on how a one-time bit-part player had been transformed into the wild-eyed star turn of an ever more thrilling national festival.

Ellis, the former rugby league player who's been in the French camp seven years, remembered the Chabal of 2003, a No8 at Bourgoin playing in a World Cup warm-up at Twickenham, getting bullied by England's big boys and making only one tackle in the entire game.

Yet here he was four years on, faster, stronger, fitter, not to mention much, much hairier and scarier. A true, unreconstructed Gallic hero - all thanks to a makeover in Manchester!

"Yes, English rugby has made Chabal; you've created the monster!" Ellis chuckled, musing how three seasons with Sale had transformed him. "He was good at Bourgoin but since he went to the Premiership, he's deservedly got this image of being a destroyer.

"That day at Twickenham, I think the England players got to him because there was a major problem with his fitness.

"Now look at him; he can blast a 55 metre try against Namibia with awesome pace, be effective for 80 minutes or you can use him as we did against the All Blacks to turn a game in the last quarter."

He did turn it too. Chris Jack, the All Blacks lock, had noted that Chabal's reputation was bigger than his ability but the poor Kiwi didn't get it. For even if there are better and more important players in the team, Chabal's importance to Les Bleus remains totemic as the chief detonator of a nation's excitement.

With Chabal, just one blistering hit or one explosive charge can change an entire mood. Like his rampages through the Namibian defence which immediately repelled the gloom of France's opening day defeat by Argentina or his riproaring ruck turnover at Cardiff just when the Kiwis threatened most.

He has been used sparingly but to real effect - 152 minutes rugby over four matches spanning six weeks - so he is going to be fresh for England.

On the charge: Sebastien Chabal hurtles towards the Irish defence

Even coach Bernard Laporte, who had never appeared to quite trust in his blood and thunder and only uses him now as a lock because he's unconvinced of his back-row abilities, has had to accept that tapping into 'Chabalmania' is a galvanising necessity for France.

Take Chabal's tour de force when facing the haka. "I knew what was going to happen because I'd been involved in planning it during the week," revealed Ellis. "The idea from Raphael [Ibanez, the captain] and the boys was to think about national pride, the tricolour and make the statement that 'we're proud and you have got a fight on your hands'."

So Chabal, who insists his ferocious spirit conceals "an inner tranquility", is a good actor too. "He might have seemed wild yet he's a really pleasant bloke off the field, a family man," said Ellis. "But when he crosses the white line, it's as if Jekyll has become Hyde."

A proud, moody and magnificent Frenchman turned into a sporting legend-by discovering Manchester. Remind you of anyone?

Chabal has been enhancing his Eric Cantona impression deliciously here when a reporter asked him if he'd answer a question in English and he responded cold-eyed: "No."

Er, nobody thought it wise to argue the point. That's why Chabal is loved here.

He is defiantly French, someone who allows his countrymen to think proudly "Vive la difference!". To England, though, he's just the ominous figure who could make la difference.

Best not to wind him up, then. A Morris Dance for Monsieur Hyde, perhaps?