Chabal slams French fixture chaos
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:39
Not impressed: Sebastien Chabal is in need of a rest
Racing-Metro No.8 Sebastien Chabal has slammed the French league and the requirements of television for allowing a punishing fixture list that sees clubs embarking on a series of three league games in the space of nine days.
The third round of the Top 14 takes place on Friday. The fourth is then being played next Wednesday, with the fifth on Sunday September 5.
"I find this stupid," Chabal told AFP.
"It would be better to play matches when the internationals are on. In England, they do that a lot and it doesn't detract from the standard of the championship.
"Television and the league [NLP] don't consider the health of the players when they draw up the fixture list. They don't give a toss for the health of the players."
Chabal also hit out at the poor preparation time given to the French national side.
"To maintain some consistency, you must train regularly together, something that all the top international sides do," he said.
"We must be the only country in the top five who prepare each season the way we do, that is five days or a week before each match and the rest of the time we don't see each other.
"We have some big questions to ask. The rugby federation, the NLR, television, they all want their share of the cake but it isn't big enough for everybody.
"Unfortunately it is the players and the staff of the French team that pay the price. It really isn't easy for them."
AFP
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