Chabal Leaves Racing

The relationship between Sebastien Chabal and Racing Metro 92 has ended in tears. It is unsurprising that a relationship based on money and personal profile and that often resembled a business deal with two equal benefiting partners has ended so acrimoniously.

The reasons given are typical: disagreements over contract negotiations and disagreements about the direction of the club. That's a rough translation. The vocabulary used tells us something about this relationship. The word 'reciprocal' pops up, as does 'collaboration'.

Chabal returned to French rugby after his exile in Sale, hailed as the new figurehead of what was effectively a new club. Certainly a new team. People started to notice Racing, he proved to people that they were serious. That was a dangerous gamble to take, allowing people to see your club in one man.

It's hard to overestimate how big Chabal is in France. Simply, he is the most recognisable sportsman, the most well-liked sportsman and a businessman and television personality to boot. In short, he was bigger than the club.

He brought in innumerable fans to Colombes, they who would collectively shout 'ooooooo' whenever he touched the ball. But were they just watching one man?

Last season Chabal only featured every now and again. Jacques Cronje was clearly the best number 8 at the club and Pierre Berbizier was confident enough to pick him. Weaker coaches would have given in to public pressure, talked about his importance to the club and how he was a figurehead. Who knows what the President thought of all this, his star fading right in front of his eyes.

It's well known that the President and Chabal were good friends. Perhaps they still are. They are still neighbours, after all, in the wealthy suburb of Sceaux.

But while Chabal's ability to make his characteristically big tackles and bullocking runs diminished, he was more and more on the television. It was clear he was on the way out.

This awkward situation was made worse when contract negotiations publicly became an issue. Will he stay or will he go? Racing then effectively signed a new number 8 for next season, Montpellier's Fijian Sakiusa Matadigo. It became obviously that Chabal would not remain at the club. How could he? He was offering less and less on the pitch and the club had to move on. They should have parted ways quietly at the end of the season. Instead, this has unnecessarily become a huge news story.

This situation had been coming from a long way off. It's sad that it had to end in this way. On balance, his impact at the club will be remembered as a positive one. He was a good ambassador for the club, if occasionally a little haughty. Hopefully some of those fans, curious about this man-beast, that Chabal first lured to Colombes are now genuine and will continue to be so. He was a figurehead when the club needed one. Unfortunately, whether the club needed a celebrity to prove they deserved their place in the Top 14 is doubtful, and that is what Chabal was allowed to become.

It's a lesson Sir Alex has known all along, and those at Racing would have done well to heed it: no one is bigger than the club.