MARCOUSSIS, France (Reuters) - Bearded, burly and uncompromising, Sebastian Chabal is fast becoming one of the cult figures of the World Cup.

After an erratic start to his career, the French back-rower-turned-lock made his name in England as soon as he joined the Sale Sharks in 2004.

A crunching tackle that sent Chris Masoe back to the dressing room and a charge that sentenced Ali Williams to several weeks of liquid food with a broken jaw brought him instant fame in New Zealand last June.

His exploits and his looks have won him many nicknames, including "Seabass", "the Anaesthetist", "Attila", "Rasputin", "Cartridge" and "Caveman".

Two ingredients were missing however — recognition by fans in his home country and a genuine impact at international level.

With a special throaty roar of appreciation, French rugby fans finally welcomed him into their fold when France registered a record 87-10 win in their World Cup Pool D game against Namibia last Sunday, in Toulouse, the capital of French rugby.

Chabal scored two tries, both of them in the corner, the first one soaring high to catch a towering cross-field kick, the second after bullocking his way to the line from halfway.

The picture of his dive for the second try, hair flying, was pure front page material.

The roars accompanied him to the bench when he was replaced in the 58th minute.

He gratefully greeted the tribute of the demanding Toulouse crowd, who had booed him of the field when he made his last appearance in the town in 2005 against Tonga.

At 30, Chabal has played 33 internationals but won most of his caps as a replacement old-fashioned number eight or six.

"To form a good back row, you need a rat-catcher, someone tall and a cart horse. At Sale, I'm the cart horse, I bring power and aggression and they love it," he once said.

France coach Bernard Laporte pushed the theory to the limit. When he named Chabal in his World Cup squad, he asked him to bury himself in the second row and to act as an "impact player" who changes the course of a game by coming on as a replacement.

Chabal agreed wholeheartedly, maybe because he has an unusual background for an international rugby player in that he did not start playing rugby until he was 17.

"I was doing nothing, no sport, no fishing, no hunting, nothing, just going to a bar with a couple of mates," he said.

One day, his friends persuaded him to join the local rugby club at Beauvallon near Valence, in the Drome area. He loved the atmosphere and the game.

Legend has it that he was spotted by Jeff Tordo, a former French captain, and that the then Bourgoin coach Michel Couturas signed him without a trial after seeing his huge hands and feet.

Former team mates have been quoted as saying that his arms are so long that he can scratch the back of his knees — some go as far as the soles of his feet — without bending.

Five years after he handled a rugby ball for the first time, he won his first cap against Scotland in the 2000 Six Nations. Three years later he was selected in the 2003 World Cup squad.

The story turned sour. His performances did nothing to alter his reputation for inconsistency, indiscipline and lack of technical skills.

He also made the mistake of complaining that reserve players had not been given a chance to prove their worth. Coach Bernard Laporte was not amused and Chabal was sent into the wilderness.

In 2004, however, Chabal decided to follow his former coach at Bourgoin and former France captain, Philippe Saint-Andre, who had moved to England to become Sale manager.

He became an instant hit with the supporters. His feats in the English Premiership persuaded Laporte to recall him in 2005.

He failed and was once again shelved but a flamboyant performance in a Heineken Cup game against Stade Francais, Laporte's former club, led the French coach to give him another chance in the last Six Nations and to name him in his World Cup squad.

"A few months ago, I wouldn't have bet much on my international future," he said at the time. "It's a new chance to prove I can play at international level, probably the last chance but I'm ready to fire my last cartridge."