Chabal could quit Sale

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The back-row forward has established himself as a cult hero at Edgeley Park since moving to the Sharks from Bourgoin in 2004. But the 30-year-old may take family considerations into account and end his stint at Sale this summer, after speaking at length with Sale director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre about the matter last week.

"As it stands, I am under contract with Sale until 2011, with that last season an option," he told 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."

He added: "My wife and my kids live in England. They haven't moved away. But my eldest 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."

He added: "If I have a family, it is to live with them. So that is bothering me.

"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."

Chabal rejected a head-spinning offer from big-spending French side Toulon during the summer, as well as others from New Zealand and Japanese clubs.

A move to France is the likeliest option but his agent Miguel Fernandez said: "For the moment, we have had no contact with any French club."