Frédéric Michalak
Encyclopedia
Frédéric Michalak is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer, who currently plays in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 for the Sharks in Super Rugby and the Natal Sharks
Natal Sharks
The Natal Sharks are a South African rugby union team that participate in the annual Currie Cup and Super Rugby tournaments. The Sharks home stadium is Kings Park. They draw most of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Sharks are the current representative team of the Natal rugby...

 in the Currie Cup
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...

. His early career was spent playing for his hometown team, Toulouse
Stade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...

, in the Top 14 and in the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

. He moved to South Africa to play for the Sharks in the Super 14 after the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

, but after just one year with the Natal Sharks he moved back to Toulouse. He has also played over 50 tests for France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

 to date. He originally played scrum half but has played mainly at fly-half. He has appeared in advertisements for companies such as Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 and Levis
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. is a privately held American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in 1853 when Levi Strauss came from Buttenheim, Franconia, to San Francisco, California to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business...

.

Michalak made his debut for Toulouse in 1998. He was a member of the team that won the French championship in 2001 and the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

 in 2003 and 2005. Michalak made his first appearance for France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

 against South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 on 10 November 2001 and became a regular on the French side. He was selected as a member of the squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

 in France. Michalak was also a part of the Six Nations
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

 French Grand Slam winners in 2004
2004 Six Nations Championship
The 2004 Six Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-tenth series of the northern...

 and the champions of 2006
2006 Six Nations Championship
The 2006 RBS 6 Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy...

.

Career

Michalak's club Stade Toulousain were crowned the champions of France in 2001 when they defeated Montferrand
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne are a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system, ASMCA are the were the 2010 France Top 14 Champions. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club...

 in the final 34-22. Later that year, in November, Michalak made his international debut for France, coming on as a replacement in a match against South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 at the national stadium, Stade de France
Stade de France
The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...

. France won the match 20-10. He was then promoted to the starting lineup for a test against Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 the following week in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

 by head coach Bernard Laporte
Bernard Laporte
Bernard Laporte is a rugby union coach and former French Secretary of State for Sport. He is currently the head coach at Toulon, having taken over in 2011 from Philippe Saint-André, who had been named the new head coach of the France national team. Laporte himself is a former head coach of France,...

. Michalak played the match at scrum-half and scored his first points for France in the match, landing one penalty goal. France won the match by one point, 14-13. He was used as a replacement in the subsequent match against Fiji
Fiji national rugby union team
The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...

 at Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...

, which France also won.

The following year Michalak was back in the starting line-up for France in a Six Nations
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

 match against Italy
Italy national rugby union team
The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

 at Stade de France, which France won 33-12, though Michalak did not play in any other of France's Six Nations matches. France eventually went on to win the tournament. Michalak earned further caps for France that year during June. He was an unused bench replacement in a match against Argentina
Argentina national rugby union team
The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

, but was then moved into the starting line-up for subsequent matches against Australia, both of which France lost.

In 2003 he started at scrum-half for France in their Six Nations match against Italy in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 at Stadio Flaminio
Stadio Flaminio
The Stadio Flaminio is a stadium in Rome. It lies along the Via Flaminia, three kilometres northwest of the city centre, 300 metres away from the Parco di Villa Glori....

. France won the match with Michalak also scoring his first try
Try
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

 for the national team. He played in one other Six Nations match that year, starting against Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 in Paris, where he scored another try in the 33-5 victory. Toulouse proceeded to win the 2002-03 Heineken Cup
2002-03 Heineken Cup
The 2002–03 Heineken Cup was the eighth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other...

, defeating fellow French team USA Perpignan
USA Perpignan
Union Sportive des Arlequins Perpignanais or Unió eSportiva Arlequins de Perpinyà , generally abbreviated as USAP in both languages, is a French rugby union club that plays in the city of Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales. The club currently competes in the Top 14, the top level of the French...

 22-17 in the final. Michalak was then included in the national squad for the June tests prior to the 2003 World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. 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
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

, where he scored eight points with his kicking in the loss. He earned subsequent caps in matches against Romania
Romania national rugby union team
The Romania national rugby union team , nicknamed The Oaks , is the representative side of Romania in rugby union. Long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations, they have participated in all six Rugby World Cups, and currently compete in the first division of the...

, scoring 14 points with his boot, and against England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 where he scored 12 of France's 17 points in the one point victory.

Michalak was subsequently included in France's squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 and made his World Cup debut against Fiji at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 during the pool stages, where he scored 26 points. He scored over 20 points in another match against Japan
Japan national rugby union team
The Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...

, including a try. He also scored a try in the subsequent game against Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 and was rested for the final pool match against the United States
United States national rugby union team
USA Rugby's men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The Eagles are currently ranked 17th by the IRB World Rankings. Their highest ranking was from November 2, 2006 – September 10, 2007 at the 14th position...

. Michalak was superb in France's 43-21 quarter-final win over Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, landing all nine goal attempts (four conversions and five penalties) for a personal haul of 23 points. France would go on to face World Cup favourites England in the semi-final. On a rainy night in Sydney, Michalak endured a nightmare game with the boot, scoring only once from five attempts before eventually getting replaced as France, despite scoring first, went on to lose the game 24-7. Despite this, Michalak still finished the tournament as the second-highest points scorer with 101 points. Only Jonny Wilkinson
Jonny Wilkinson
Jonathan Peter "Jonny" Wilkinson OBE is an English rugby union player and member of the England national team. Wilkinson rose to acclaim from 2001 to 2003, before and during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and was acknowledged as one of the world’s best rugby players...

 (113) scored more.

The following year, Michalak 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
2003-04 Heineken Cup
The 2003-4 Heineken Cup was the ninth season for which European teams competed for the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other...

, though they were defeated by the London Wasps
London Wasps
London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...

. Michalak gained four more caps in November 2004 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
2004-05 Heineken Cup
The 2004-5 Heineken Cup was the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other...

 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 18-12 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
Canada national rugby union team
The Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in international rugby union. They are governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and black. Canada is classified by the International Rugby Board as a tier two rugby nation. There are ten tier one nations, and seven tier two nations, the...

, Tonga
Tonga national rugby union team
The Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed Ikale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Kailao . They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and Samoa...

 and South Africa. He was named in France's squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

.
Within seconds of coming as a substitute on in the quarter-finals of the tournament, he made a break and then made a pass to Yannick Jauzion
Yannick Jauzion
Yannick Jauzion is a French rugby union footballer. He plays at centre for Stade Toulousain and the French national team....

 who scored a try which when converted gave France a two point lead which they held onto to beat New Zealand, the tournament favourites.

First spell with The Sharks

Michalak signed with The Sharks for the Super 14 in 2008. The team, who had previously signed former French internationals Thierry Lacroix
Thierry Lacroix
Thierry Lacroix is a former French rugby union footballer. He won 43 caps playing at fly-half for the French rugby union side. He made his international test debut at the age of 22 on 4 November 1989 as a replacement against Australia. He was part of the winning side in the 1993 Five Nations...

 and Olivier Roumat
Olivier Roumat
Olivier Roumat is a former French rugby union footballer. He played as a number-eight, openside flanker and lock....

, saw him as a key player in the Currie Cup
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...

 campaign of the Natal Sharks
Natal Sharks
The Natal Sharks are a South African rugby union team that participate in the annual Currie Cup and Super Rugby tournaments. The Sharks home stadium is Kings Park. They draw most of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Sharks are the current representative team of the Natal rugby...

, the provincial side that operates the Super Rugby side. Michalak made his Super 14 debut against the Stormers
Stormers
The Stormers, for sponsorship reasons referred to as DHL Stormers, are a South African rugby union team based in Cape Town competing in the Super Rugby competition . Despite their lack of silverware over the years, their home stadium, Newlands, typically draws the highest average attendance figures...

. but featured in only nine games before being sidelined by injury and shortly thereafter ending his spell with The Sharks. He played in the 2008 Currie Cup final, helping the Natal Sharks to win and becoming the third Frenchmen, after Olivier Roumat
Olivier Roumat
Olivier Roumat is a former French rugby union footballer. He played as a number-eight, openside flanker and lock....

 and Thierry Lacroix
Thierry Lacroix
Thierry Lacroix is a former French rugby union footballer. He won 43 caps playing at fly-half for the French rugby union side. He made his international test debut at the age of 22 on 4 November 1989 as a replacement against Australia. He was part of the winning side in the 1993 Five Nations...

 to win a Currie Cup medal. Michalak re-signed with his former club Toulouse
Stade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...

 for the start of the 2008-09 season.

Second spell at Stade Toulousain

Michalak's second spell with Toulouse was frustrated by injury
with two serious injuries that limited his appearances for his club.

Return to Durban

On May 31, 2011 it was announced that Michalak had signed a one-year contract with the Sharks, effective immediately—which meant that Michalak would not play in Toulouse's Top 14 final on June 4. The Sharks' need to fill vacancies left by injuries to several of their scrumhalves is widely considered a key short-term motive for the signing; in the 2012 season, he is seen as an extra option at fly-half, a position where they had issues in 2011.

External links

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