Frédéric Michalak

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Frédéric Michalak
Date of birth October 16, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth Toulouse
Height 1.72 m
Weight 78 kg
Rugby union career
Position Fly half, Scrum half
Professional clubs
1998- Stade Toulousain
correct as of March 20, 2007.
National team(s) Caps (points)
2001- France 42 (243)
correct as of March 20, 2007.

Frédéric Michalak (born 16 October 1982 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne) is a French rugby union footballer who plays for his hometown team, Toulouse in the Top 14 and Heineken Cup. He has played over 40 matches for France. He originally played scrum half, but has recently played mainly at fly-half. Michalak is one of the most popular French athletes and European rugby union players. He has also done ads for companies like Nike.[1]

Michalak has been playing for Toulouse since 1998. He was a part of the team that won the French championship in 2001 and the Heineken Cup in 2003. He was instrumental in Toulouse's 2005 Heineken Cup truimph. Michalak made his first appearance for France against South Africa on November 10, 2001, and became a regular in the French side and was a part of their 2003 Rugby World Cup. Michalak was also a part of the Six Nations French Grand Slam winners in 2004 and the champions of 2006.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] 2001-2002

Michalak's club Toulouse were crowned the champions of France in 2001, when they defeated AS Montferrand in the final 34 to 22. Later that year, in November, Michalak made his international debut for France, coming on as a replacement in a match against South Africa in Paris at the national stadium, Stade de France. France won the match, 20 points to 10. He was then promoted to the starting lineup for a test against Australia the following week in Marseille by head coach Bernard Laporte.[2] He played the match at scrum-half. He scored his first points for France in the match, landing one penalty goal. France won the match by one point, 14 to 13. He was used as a replacement in the subsequent match against Fiji at St Etienne, which France also won.

The following year he was back in the starting line up for France in a Six Nations match against Italy at Stade de France, which France won 33 points to 12, though Michalak did not play in any other of France's Six Nations matches. France eventually went onto win the tournament. Michalak earned further caps for France that year during June. He was an unused bench replacement in a match against Argentina, but was then moved into the starting line up for subsequent matches against Australia, both of which France lost.

[edit] 2003

In 2003 he started at scrum-half for France in their Six Nations match against Italy in Rome at Stadio Flaminio. France won the match with Michalak also scoring his first try for the national team. He played in one other Six Nations match that year, starting against Wales in Paris, where he scored another try, in the 33 to five victory. Toulouse proceeded to win the 2002-03 Heineken Cup, defeating fellow French team USA Perpignan 22 to 17 in the final. Michalak was then included in the national squad for the June tests prior to the 2003 World Cup in Australia. He was not used in France's first match against Argentina, but came off the bench in the second of two. He then started in the following match against the All Blacks, where he scored eight points with his kicking in the loss. He earned subsequent caps in matches against Romania, scoring 14 points with his boot, and against England, where he scored 12 of France's 17 points in the one point victory.

Michalak was included in France's squad for the World Cup, and made his World Cup debut against Fiji at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane during the pool stages, where he scored 26 points. He scored over 20 points in another match against Japan, including a try. He also scored a try in the subsequent game against Scotland and was rested for the final pool match against the United States. He scored 23 points in France's 43 to 21 quarter final win over Ireland. The semi-final against England was billed as 'Michalak versus Wilkinson' but France's No 10 faltered under the spotlight, and when Michalak struggled so did France. He did, however, finish the tournament as the second-highest points scorer, behind Wilkinson.

[edit] 2004-present

The following year he played in four of France's Six Nations fixtures all in the starting line up. He was not used in the match against Italy. Toulouse also made it to the final of the 2003-04 Heineken Cup, though they were defeated by the London Wasps. Michalak was capped another four times in November of that year, against Argentina, Australia and the All Blacks. He played in all of France's 2005 Six Nations matches, as well as Toulouse's 2004-05 Heineken Cup victory over Stade Français. He came into the Heineken Cup final under an injury cloud, but showed no signs of it, even sealing the victory for Toulouse in the end with a late drop goal. Toulouse won 18 to 12, and became the first ever team to win the Cup three times. He was then capped three times in June for France; twice against the Springboks and once against Australia. Michalak was capped another four times in November, against Australia, Canada, Tonga and South Africa. However, he came under much criticism from the French public after France's 20 to 16 loss to Scotland in the opening week of the Six Nations. Fans were not impressed at Stade de France either, when he made a series of errors and was replaced in the 67th minute in the fixture against Ireland. Bernard Laporte said that he was however satisified with his performance, and was going to back him up and support him.[3] As it turned out, France went onto win the Six Nations that season.

Michalak twisted his right knee during a Toulouse training session, and apparently sprained the lateral ligament, but the crucial ligaments were not torn. He thus missed the Toulouse-Stade Francais, and Toulouses' opening Heineken Cup match against Ulster. He did not play in the November international either.[4] Though it is now unknown if he will play a role in these Tests.

Recently Michalak has signed with the Natal Sharks for the Super 14 in 2008 which has put his 6 nations status under consideration. The Natal Sharks previously signed Thierry Lacroix and Olivier Roumat in 1995/1996 which helped them win the Currie Cup of South Africa.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Divine Frédéric Michalak. beautiful.blogs.com. Retrieved on 8 July 2006.
  2. ^ France picks teenager at flyhalf. rugby.com.au. Retrieved on 2 November 2006.
  3. ^ Michalak accepts fans' criticism. BBC. Retrieved on 17 September 2006.
  4. ^ Michalak out for four weeks. Euro Sport. Retrieved on 17 September 2006.

[edit] External links

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