France's Frederik Michalak may be the World Cup's top scorer, but his coach Bernard Laporte says he still has a lot to learn.
Michalak has wracked up 50 points from the stand-off position in the two games against Fiji and Japan and he has firmly established himself as France's goalkicker, an area that was giving them problems earlier this year.
But at 21, he is the youngest member of the French squad and in many eyes too inexperienced for the responsibilities of the No 10 job. His play against Japan was typical, cutting through the Japanese defence after four minutes to put his side ahead, kicking with confidence, but inconsistent in his passing and general play-making.
"We attack from our 22-metres line and drive on to the middle of the field, but we get bogged down. Michalak continues to throw the ball around instead of kicking it. We will have to talk to him about that," said Laporte. Michalak accepts the critricism without complaint.
"After five or six phases like that, I should have kicked. That would have given some respite to our forwards. I will have to do better with my kicks. Impose our game. We were weak at times in our play-making and its up to us - the stand-off and the scrum-half - to get this done," he said.
Michalak's uncertainty is understandable in a player who has just 14 caps since making his debut as a teenager in 2001. Coach Laporte was unsure for a while whether he would better fit in at scrum-half or stand-off and it was only when the experienced Gerard Merceron lost form that he plumped for the No 10 shirt for him.
Helping him is the fact that alongside at scrum-half is the vastly experienced French skipper Fabien Galthie who is playing in his fourth World Cup.
Galthie, 14 years his senior, has taken Michalak under his wing and has helped him stamp his authority on the French style of play which Laporte is trying to vary compared to his predecessors Jean-Claude Skrela and Pierre Villepreux.
Michalak was in the wars against the Japanese and finished the game with a painful shoulder and ribs.
But X-rays Sunday showed nothing serious and Laporte is expected to take the field in what should be the pool decider againstScotland in Sydney on Saturday.
Filed by Neil Callanan
