Top 14: Set-back for Milloud; joy for Michalak and praise
for Toulouse
27
October 2008
 France
and Bourgoin prop Olivier Milloud has been ruled out for a
further months after confirmation that he would have to
undergo an Achilles operation.
The 32-year-old ruptured his right tendon in June and had
been expected back in action before Christmas, but Bourgoin
have confirmed that the veteran international must now go
back under the knife after the injury failed to heal as
hoped.
Milloud, who has 50 French caps, could now be out until the
end of February.
Perpignan’s injury woes show no sign of abating after
confirmation that Scottish scrum-half Chris Cusiter
sustained a broken thumb in the weekend victory over Dax.
Cusiter is looking at a six-week lay-off after confirmation
the fracture requires an operation, immediately ruling him
out of Scotland’s November internationals.
Meanwhile the Catalans’ fly-half injury curse was
exacerbated on Saturday when Nicolas Durand was concussed
and forced to leave the field.
While the wait continues for Dan Carter’s arrival (in
December) Perpignan’s resources are being stretched ever
thinner following injuries to Meyer, Hume, Laharrague,
Mermoz and Mele.
No such problems for Toulouse, however, where an abundance
of riches is about to be enhanced further with the arrival
of returning favourite Frederic Michalak.
The French fly-half, who played a starring role as Durban
Sharks beat the Blue Bulls 14-9 to secure their first Currie
Cup success in 12 years at the weekend, returns to Toulouse
this week to take up a three year contract with the
defending Top 14 champions.
Michalak set up two tries, made a crucial cover tackle on
Bryan Habana and kicked the last conversion as he ended his
year-long sojourn on a high.
“Durban and the Sharks have changed my life,” he admitted
afterwards. “My reason for leaving France was have a new
life experience, but I could not have imagined it would work
out quite as positively as it did.
“I am a changed person. I have grown. I had never spent time
outside of my home town, and I came to Durban unsure of
myself.
“But South Africans of all cultures, black, white, English
and Afrikaans, opened their hearts to me. My time has been
very special indeed. I was very anxious to repay the Sharks
by making a good contribution in the final,” he said.
The 26-year-old returns to a club buoyed by back-to-back
wins in the Heineken Cup and Saturday’s dethroning of
championship hopefuls Stade Francais.
The 26-13 away victory in front of 80,000 at the Stade de
France could prove a turning point in the season after
Toulouse initially struggled to find their best form.
The recent returns from injury of Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde,
Clement Poitrenaud and Yannick Jauzion has bolstered their
back division, with new-boy David Skrela settling in nicely
after his summer move from Stade Francais.
Now they have Michalak heading back to bolster competition
in a half-back position that has already featured Skrela,
Ellisalde and former All Black Byron Kelleher this season.
It seems the good news just keeps rolling for Toulouse, but
wise old coach Guy Noves was refusing to get carried away
after Saturday’s massive win.
“We haven’t yet quite got the killer instinct of Stade,” he
said. “They scored a try on the only occasion they had of
scoring, while we only scored two of the six chances we
had.”
Ewen McKenzie, Stade’s Australian coach, was typically
forthright in his summation after watching his team lose for
the first time since taking charge in the summer.
“I think the better team won, that’s all,” he admitted.
Next up for Stade is Clermont away, another potential banana
skin despite last year’s Top 14 runners’ up slipping to
their fourth league defeat of a stuttering campaign on
Saturday.
Clermont’s New Zealand coach Vern Cotter was unimpressed by
their 25-30 home defeat by Montauban – the first time the
visitors had won in Clermont for 50 years.
“There are some questions to be posed,” he said after the
surprise loss. “It is vital to speak the truth, we must
react and we must do so quickly against Stade Francais next
week, if not the championship will become a bit complicated
for us this season.
“We are frustrated because we cannot find the keys to the
solution and whenever our rivals are in front we become
shaky.”
Not the perfect preparation then to take on a Stade team
stung by their own home defeat and looking for immediate
payback to stabilise their own championship credentials.
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