The man who broke New Zealand hearts in Cardiff last year is set to start for the Sharks against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday night.
French first five-eighth Frederic Michalak threw the (forward, I hear you scream) pass to Yannick Jauzion for the match-winning try against the All Blacks in last year's World Cup quarterfinal.
Michalak has since left Toulouse for the sunny climes of Durban and an increasingly starring role with the Sharks.
"He's fitted in really well," assistant coach John Plumtree said.
"His English is improving all the time and he's clicked into the Durban scene."
Michalak, 25, came off the bench against the Reds last week but is tipped to take over the No10 jersey he had worn a week earlier against the Blues, with Francois Steyn possibly moving to fullback.
The Sharks had their first run in Wellington yesterday with the only injury concern to No8 Ryan Kankowski who has a twisted ankle.
If he can't play, veteran AJ Venter could move from lock to No8 or Tongan international Epi Taione could get his first start in the Super 14.
The Sharks were convincing 27-14 winners against the Hurricanes in Durban last year with their lineout drive regularly splintering a Hurricanes pack that was missing its All Blacks.
They are back, while Plumtree said the new experimental laws had robbed the Sharks of that weapon as lineouts were not as common under the ELVs.
"There's been a bit of resentment from the South African sides to the ELVs but us and the Stormers have switched on a bit quicker than the others.
"[However] it has taken the set piece away from us though, and it's harder to get our structure going."
Meanwhile, Sharks manager Trevor Barnes steered clear of a protest made by the Reds that the Sharks had 16 men on the field at Absa Stadium during last Sunday's match.
The Reds have complained that Sharks replacement Craig Burden was on the field as a 16th man for more than two minutes, making two key tackles during that time.
One shut a defensive hole when he brought down Reds captain Chris Latham and another, near his own tryline, was penalised because he failed to roll away from the Reds attacker.
"It's a flagrant breach of rules. We're not suggesting we get handed the winning points but the whole competition needs a clarification," Reds team manager Brendan Morris said.
Morris e-mailed an official complaint to Bloemfontein-based Sanzar tournament director Johan Botes outlining the Sharks' 16-man faux pas. Barnes would not comment yesterday but made it clear any fault lay with the match officials, not the Sharks.
The Reds claim Burden, used as No8, took the field after the Sharks scored their third try for their match-winning 22-10 lead and was on the pitch from the 68th minute for 2 minutes 10 seconds.
At the 2003 World Cup, England were fined more than $20,000 for having a 16th man, Dan Luger, on the field for just six seconds against Samoa in Melbourne.
An English official was also barred from touchline duty for two games.
The Dominion Post
