Frédéric MICHALAK

Biog of Frédéric MICHALAK :

Michalak made his breakthrough playing at scrum-half for Toulouse at the age of 18. He then became the youngest-ever French international fly-half, aged just 19. “Michalak is a genius”, says Fabien Galthié, voicing the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the French rugby world. However, despite earning 54 caps and scoring 252 points in the French shirt, the feeling remains that Michalak has not fulfilled his potential, being shunted backward and forward as he is between the posts of scrum-half and fly-half both for France and Toulouse. At times, Michalak has also been asked to play contrary to his nature. “They wanted to turn an attacking player who loves playing with the ball in hand, into a player who plays for territory”, explains Pierre Villepreux, referring to the tactics employed by Bernard Laporte (coach 2000-2007).

Frédéric Michalak needed to have a strong character to cope with this as well the huge expectations that went with it, and to manage his successes and setbacks and the constant switching between scrum-half and fly-half. Michalak has played in six finals for Toulouse, three in the French championship (victory in 2001 aged 18 years when he kicked three penalties of over 50 metres, and defeats in 2003 and 2006) and three in the European Cup (victories in 2003 and 2005, defeat in 2004). Michalak played one of the European and one of the French championship finals at scrum-half, one of each starting at scrum-half but switching to fly-half, and one of each at fly-half for the whole match. It is a good indication of Michalak’s talent, but being polyvalent did not always help his cause. From the outset, Michalak was also used in the same way for France.

His first cap came as replacement scrum-half and his second as starting fly-half in November 2001. In 2002 Laporte tried him again at number nine and then he was dropped. Laporte recalled Michalak in 2003, this time as his fly-half/kicker even though his regular position for Toulouse at that time was scrum-half. A case of “Oh, East is East, and West is West and never the twain shall meet” if ever there was one.

Nevertheless, 2003, the year that the World Cup was held in Australia, proved to be a good year for Michalak. “Michalak was in a different class”, recalls Galthié, his partner in the French team on twelve occasions, nine times in the starting line-up together. The young fly-half (only 21 years old at the time) got the French back line moving brilliantly and scored 101 points in the four pool matches (second-highest points scorer in the competition with 103, behind Jonny Wilkinson with 113). Michalak’s 28-point haul against Scotland was the second highest ever scored by a Frenchman in an international (a record held equally with Lamaison), only two points behind the record-holder Didier Cambérabéro (30). In France, Michalak had become a star without even knowing it (on his return he was the first rugby player to break out of rugby’s media framework). Then came the semi-final under the Sydney rain, and the unbearable comparisons to Wilko and his infallible boot. The French put in a disappointing performance against the champions-in-waiting, England, and Michalak was replaced in the second half, the first big reversal he was to suffer.

He was to suffer others. In the 2005 Six Nations tournament Michalak was named as replacement for his club partner, Yann Delaigue, despite having been first-pick fly-half for France’s eighth Grand Slam in 2004; he suffered a first serious knee injury (his right) in November 2006; and he was not Laporte’s first choice for the important matches in the 2007 World Cup (opening game against Argentina, quarter-final against New Zealand, semi-final against England). Nevertheless, Michalak was the author of France’s second try in the incredible quarter-final victory over the All Blacks at Cardiff.

After the 2007 World Cup, Michalak signed for the Sharks in Durban to play in the Super 14, the second Frenchman to embark on the “southern hemisphere” adventure, after his club mate at Toulouse, Christian Califano. In South Africa, Michalak learnt a lot about himself. But where did he stand in rugby terms? He sustained another knee injury, the left one this time, causing him to miss half of the Super 14 competition, and then went on to win the Currie Cup before returning to Toulouse, where his friends had won the French championship in his absence.

Since his return in 2008 (still only 26 years old) Michalak has not shone as of old. Passed over in the first place by Lièvremont, France’s new coach, Michalak came back to pick up four more caps (one in 2009, three in the 2010 tournament) as the back-up scrum-half/fly-half. At Toulouse, Michalak has also suffered, competing for the same positions as David Skrela, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Byron Kelleher. And then, in early 2010 just when he appeared to have rediscovered some of his old serenity, he badly injured his left knee at the beginning of March. Michalak made his comeback in the Top 14 at Clermont on 3 December 2010, nine months after his injury. Whether he will be re-called to the French team remains to be seen.