Michalak falls into the same category, but his Six Nations diet of last-quarter appearances qualified him as one of Lord Flashheart’s 20-minuters, so is he in the form to win over English supporters who remember that World Cup no-show? “I have nothing to prove to people in England,” he said. “It’s the opinion of the French selectors which is important to me. It’s true I spent more time on the bench than on the pitch in the Six Nations. But I think the rest I received has brought me back to the Heineken Cup fresh and more of an in-form player.”Michalak’s introduction for France in Ireland coincided with Brian O’Driscoll brushing his tackle off for a memorable try. But Michalak, the son of a builder in the Toulouse suburbs, returned to the bosom of his hometown club to snaffle a 70-metre interception try in the 37-9 dismissal of Northampton in the Heine-ken Cup quarter-final. In last season’s Heineken final, Michalak was selected by Nov?at scrum-half, with Yann Delaigue outside him, in the defeat by Wasps at Twickenham. As the first Frenchman since Jean-Louis Berot in the 1970s to occupy both half-back positions for his country, Michalak has tended to fall between two stools, as when he was switched from 10 to nine by France after last November’s surprise loss to Argen-tina.

His kicking has also been subject to severe criticism.Leicester’s fly-half, Andy Goode, says the cocksure Michalak is best suited to life at No 10. “They have big ball-carriers in the back row,” said John Wells, Leicester’s coach, “and everything else will go through Michalak. As for the captaincy, I guess they aren’t expecting many of the forwards to stay on for 80 minutes.” It was a reference to substitutions, rather than any crossed swords with the referee, and Ben?Baby and Gareth Thomas epitomise the strength of the Toulouse bench.Wells said he had gone for players in the back line “who can make things happen”. “He has the spirit of Stade Toulousain,” Nov?said, but flighty statements will not be of much value when the coin spins into the air this afternoon.An opportunity to judge Michalak’s mood presented itself on Friday, with a video link-up between Leicester and Toulouse at which the respective teams were announced. Casually dressed in a red Nike sweatshirt, he let a few revealing facts pass the lips of one of the most famous pouts in rugby.

“Apart from one match this season, against Glasgow [in Europe], the last time I was captain was at secondary school,” said Michalak. “It’s an honour for me, and I’ll try to lead by example from the first minute to the last, but we have leaders everywhere on the field in the team, and we’ll do it together As the fly-half I’m used to taking responsibility. I have the soul of a leader, even if I don’t find words as easy to come by as Fabien Pelous.”With Pelous’s deputy, the hooker Yannick Bru, on the bench in favour of the more mobile William Servat, Toulouse appear to want an expansive game. The pre-match toss-up, with the diamond stud-wearing Michalak staring up at the beetle-browed Johnson, looming almost a foot taller than him, might almost be worth the Walkers Stadium entrance money on its own.We know enough about Guy Nov? the Toulouse coach who is synonymous with their sustained success in recent years, to rule out a whimsical selection, yet the suggestion in France is that he is attempting to bring the best out of Michalak by piling the pressure on to him. Given the way Michalak, by his own admission, was “rubbish, truly rubbish” in the high-pressure World Cup semi-final against England, it is a questionable tactic. More than a few nibs and ballpoints, in the absence of the French club’s injured 100-cap totem Fabien Pelous, must have hovered over the name of Fr?ric Michalak.

Or, more specifically, over the suffix of “captain” attached to the fly-half. The pundits have been as busy as the coaches of Leicester and Toulouse, ticking boxes on teamsheets, weighing up the relative strengths and weaknesses. Michalak, a captain precisely once in his senior career, standing opposite a man who uniquely has twice led the Lions, and as a skipper won the World Cup, Grand Slam, Heineken Cup and Zurich Premiership. It probably would have been but for the fact that Biarritz’s centre, Guillaume Bousses, nearly took off the head of the Stade wing Julien Arias, two minutes after his team had taken a 17-6 lead. A 30-metre break by the centre Damien Traille for a fine try had given Biarritz that advantage, and though the scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili could not convert, his side looked home and dry.Bousses’ yellow card changed that and Stade at last began to find some gaps in the defence. Until they can lose their reserve and banish the fear of failure, they cannot expect to reach the ultimate prize.Stade Fran?s: O Sarramea; J Arias, S Glas, B Liebenberg, C Dominici; J Fillol, A Pichot; S Marconnet, M Blin, R Roncero (P Lemoine, 61), D Auradou (capt), O Brouzet (M James, 57), P Rabadan (M Bergamasco, 61), R Martin, S Sowerby.Biarritz: N Brusque; P Bidab?F Martin Arramburu, 60), G Bousses, D Traille, J Marlu; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; P Balan (K Lealamanua, 40), B August, D Avril (B Lecouls, 68), J Thion, O Olibeau (D Couzinet, 75), S Betsen, I Harinordoquy (T Dusautoir, 50-58; JM Gonzalez, 80), T Li?emont (capt; Dusautoir, 68).Referee: A Spreadbury (England).. But they were wounded by another yellow card, the lock Olivier Olibeau getting 10 minutes in the bin for a tackle on Brian Liebenberg when the centre didn’t have the ball.Given that the two teams boasted 10 French internationals in their back lines alone, it was a pretty dire demonstration, confirmation that even in such wonderful conditions of warm sunshine and a dry ground, the pressures of a Heineken Cup semi-final can make even the best players freeze with fear.Briarritz have been this way before, their own excessive caution costing them not only a semi-final against Toulouse last year, but also a pool game against Wasps in London last autumn.