Michalak faces year out of action

By Phil Barnett

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

FRANCE utility back Frederic Michalak will have surgery today after suffering a knee injury last weekend which could keep him out for a year.

The Toulouse player was stretchered off with torn cruciate ligaments in his side’s French Championship win over Stade Francais on Saturday.

"His season is over and he will need a year to come back to his best level," said Toulouse manager Guy Noves.

"Frederic will undergo surgery on Wednesday in Toulouse."

Michalak, who kicked a penalty after coming on as replacement fly-half in France’s 26-20 win over Wales last month, will be replaced by Dimitri Yachvili for Sunday’s Six Nations game against Italy.

Meanwhile IRB president Bernard Lapasset has called for greater unity within the sport after England flanker James Haskell became the latest player to become embroiled in a club-versus-country row.

Lapasset has also urged various bodies to work together on the matter of player punishment as the ongoing David Attoub suspension issue continues to attract unwanted headlines.

Haskell’s club, Stade Francais, demanded the player be released for their domestic clash with Toulouse last week but England kept hold of him, with Haskell himself saying he was covered by a release clause in his contract.

The row escalated with Stade talking of possible legal action before the flanker put the situation down to a misunderstanding. Lapasset believes the club-versus-country row is best tackled by working together.

Asked about possible solutions to the issue, he said: "It depends on the economy. The solution is not a sport solution, it is an economical solution and that is the problem. The economy comes first in the professional system."

Lapasset sounded a similar rallying cry on the issue of Attoub, the Stade Francais prop banned for 70 weeks for gouging in the Heineken Cup. While his appeal recently failed, there are suggestions he could return early in domestic competition, at least, if his club appeal to the French Olympic and Sport Committee (CNOSF).

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, March 10, 2010