Sebastien Chabal believes France will need to produce an error-free performance if they are to bring Australia back down to earth on Saturday.

YOU were forewarned by Bernard Laporte himself. Last week, quizzed on his selection of Sebastian Chabal at lock, the French coach simply said Chabal could offer his team certain things that Jerome Thion and Fabien Pelous couldn’t. Certainly neither Thion nor Pelous could have scored Chabal’s rampaging second try last Sunday night against Namibia, but then there’s hardly a second-row in the world who could.

Sebastien Chabal is adamant his iconic status off the pitch will not affect his performance on it when he lines up for France in the make-or-break World Cup clash against Ireland in Paris.