French flyhalf Frederic Michalak will make his Super 14 debut against the Stormers after he was withdrawn from the opening round clash against the Western Force.
News 24 reports (author unknown) that the Sharks, adopting a tactical kicking game in difficult ball-handling conditions, stuttered to a 17-10 win over the fancied Australian side.
Michalak, nursing a calf strain, was withdrawn by Muir who said on Sunday that the Frenchman would be fit for Saturday’s game against the Stormers on Saturday.
“Freddie could have played at a push or if, say, we had been in a final. But it would be crazy to gamble on the fitness of one of our top players at the start of the season.”
Michalak was probably never going to be risked but Muir delayed the announcement until shortly before kick-off. The Force had Matt Giteau at flyhalf but John Mitchell’s meticulous planning would have been disrupted when they found the powerful and physical Frans Steyn standing at flyhalf in place of the slightly-built, skilful Michalak.
The Force were not the only ones thrown a dummy. A couple of French rugby writers travelled out to South Africa to cover Michalak’s Super 14 debut – he remains big news in France – and are stuck in Durban, twiddling their thumbs for a week while they await the event.
Muir said that the Sharks had managed to avoid any major injuries and said he was delighted that the squad remains an effective unit in spite of the loss of their most experienced players of last year.
“I’m hugely relieved we won this game. We really did not know where we were in terms of our preparation and how we would deal with the new laws. The Force have played far more rugby under the new changes and they are a top side. It was not pretty and we may have overdone the kicking but to get out with a win is a huge boost.”
Rassie Erasmus’s Stormers, beaten by a brave, but limited, Bulls side at Newlands on Saturday, have certainly added some steel to their forward play.
Ironically, their attacking backline play was less impressive and they were unable to cross the Bulls’ line.
The Sharks game against the Stormers kicks off at 17:00 on Saturday.
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Believe me, those journos will not be twiddling thei thumbs…there’s plenty to do in Durban 😀
Hopefully Michalak can get the backline going…Steyn should stay @ fullback and certainly needs to launch counter attacks instead of kicking away ball possesion… 👿
Yep…I’m sure they are the ones who convinced DM not to risk Freddie just to extend their stay in Durbs. The Stormers are going down!
Agree Charlie – I felt Steyn misused his boots at times against Force.
But worry not – things will be back to normal this Saturday. Everyone is going on about Bobs…was he really that good against the Bulls ??? (missed the game)
There are two SB picks i have already made for this weekend.
Sharks by 10
and Crusaders by 12. (Don’t expect the Aus ref to be as error ridden as Roos was.
ST
from what I could hear on the radio he had a pretty good game, there is ALSO a a lot of chatter about him not being able to hold onto the ball though, so i suspect his performance will be in the eye of the beholder.
shark_time,
Well Bobo’s defence was good but was poor with ball in hand… 😆
❓ With the new laws, are we going to see more kicking and lesser tries being scored… 👿
KSA- made your picks already? 😛
So if he gets his handling right…he could be someone to worry about?
Talking about handling…I was a bit concerned with Henno on Saturday…normally a good ball carrier…
Sharks loosies need to pitch for the game…
Rob,
Surely with the exception of Jacques Botes… 😉
Watched Bobs with interest – he had some good runs and his defence was good but, as when he was with the Sharks, his ball handling skills left much to be desired.
Charlie – I didn’t think JB had a particularly good game. Did you?
JB had a decent game…
Less kicking and more running …hopefully we’ll see more tries and get that Bonus point.
The oke who really disappointed me was AJ… didn’t look like he really wanted to be there…
shark_time, I just can’t get over the feeling that JB isn’t as good a fetcher as he is a ball carrier. What you think?
Rob,
JB was not outstanding but surely understands the new ELV’s much better then the other forwards… 🙄
I think he had a solid game… IMO… 😉
BEEEEAST… deserved Man-of-the-Match… 😆
BTW, the numerous kicks by Frans Steyn might have got JP & Murray fedup not getting any ball and did not bother to tackle…Adi Jacobs was for about 25min on the pitch and only handled the ball twice, when he was actually suppose to run the defence to threads as an impact player @ that stage of the match… 👿
Yeah, but Pienaar and then Steyn alwys seemed to get slow, shit ball… evidence to me that we weren’t effective at securing at the breakdown… whose fault is that?
ST
only made TWO picks the others will be decided later, but I think there will be a few more away wins this week.
I had a pretty poor week by my usually high standards. Lions result really floored me
Rob,
With the new laws I would rather challenge players to try and stay on their feet in the contact situation or for the better to offlaod before contact, by this there are more fluent periods and lesser confusion @ rucks… 😉
Yeah – but trying to avoid a breakdown siutation makes sense under whatever laws you’re playing. This is what the Lions did so well. Luckily, they had the hands to make it work, whereas the Sharks didn’t.
Dick Muir are always preaching that he allows his players to play the situation but surely did’nt ask them to kick possession away… 😉
well, one would hope not… I start to wonder about this determination of his to play Steyn at 10.
He did tackle very well, though…
Rob – simple – when one player is injured, you bring in someone else… 🙄
yeah, of course you do. I guess we do need to be realistic about that. A late change at flyhalf is likely to disrupt the gameplan. That said, Dick knew that Fred wasn’t going to play all week, didn’t he?
I start to wonder about this determination of his to play Steyn at 10.
18.02.08 10:56:01 – robdylan Edit
HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?
If he plays him where the rest of us would prefer him then your lovechild will be on the bench 😉
I was waiting for you to say that. Remember, I like Frans most at Fullback 😉
KSA, I know you didn’t see the game, but I hope others back me up here. Brad was one of the few Sharks backs to have a bloody good game the whole way through.
🙂
you will see, you will see… 😉
you know, Brad would make an outstanding openside flanker…
Agree with everything Charlie said.
Also, our loosies werent great, but we kicked anm awful lot of possession away too – Frans and Stefan most of all.
AJ looked like he would rather not be there, JP, Henno and Murray were wondering when the game would start – they were whistling in the breeze for most of the game.
Brad had a good game – but I really believe that you cant play him and Frans next to each other – both stand very flat.
Beast and Bismark were brutal.
How was Bissie’s monster on Giteau? Lovely!
AJ was nowhere to be seen…I even forgot he playing…early retirement? 😆 I’m really hoping that his experience will come through for us in the coming games.
robdylan
JB- is no Richie McCaw but the boy is a bit special and I think he will be one of the players to watch in this edition of the Super 14. I was frustrated by our slow reaction at breakdown but that’s obviously because the boys are still adjusting to ELVs…expect something different against the Stormers. I can’t wait to see Michalak’s boot in action.
So what happens to Stefan?
if Odwa ain’t fit, I’ll have Stef at 14 against the Stormers. He did enough to keep his spot.
Once Odwa is back, it’s a bench spot for Mr T…
Rob – agree…
course you do… I’m always right 😉
I think Henno needs to play a bit of VC rugby. His handling was exceptionally poor. He also has less of a sidestep then any of the current Sharks props (barring Kees).
Shark_Time is that Beast I see in your Pic?
Kees? Don’t get me started on Kees, please!
we should rename this place “beastworld”!
hellbent-
Yes it is “Beeeaaast!”
I wish you could see this pic close up…he really does look like a “beast”. Scary thing is he’s got soooooo much room for improvement…
Earning Man of the match and you know he is only getting better….
Now compare his situation to Solly, who had the same opportunities (in fact, probably more) and decided he was bigger than the game.
Solly was such a disappointment… 😳 😥 👿
I had a pretty poor week by my usually high standards. Lions result really floored me
18.02.08 10:38:50 – robdylan
One season wonder 😯
Hallo! 😈
Where is KSA????
Did you see the Bru ratings….. 😆