Name Michael Horak Height 1.88 m | Weight 92 kg | |
Education Grey College, Bloemfontein | ||
Michael horak against northampton
Michael John Horak (born 3 June 1977 in Johannesburg) is a former rugby union footballer and former rugby league player who last played at fullback or wing for Saracens.
Contents
- Michael horak against northampton
- Inside sport sharks rugby coach michael horak profile
- Playing career
- Coaching career
- References
Inside sport sharks rugby coach michael horak profile
Playing career
After playing for the Free State Schools Cravenweek side in 1995 and the Free State U21s in 1996 he moved to Australia to play Rugby League, where he represented the Perth Reds. He has also played for the South Africa national rugby league team, including at the 1997 Super League World Nines.
Horak was signed by Bob Dwyer for the Leicester Tigers in 1997 and became Leicester's first-choice full back, replacing the retiring John Liley and ahead of Fijian international Waisale Serevi. He also played for the England U21 side. However, he dropped to third choice after Tiger's signing of Tim Stimpson and Geordan Murphy.
Horak subsequently followed Dwyer to Bristol before signing for London Irish in 1999. He left Irish in 2000 but re-signed in 2001.
He started in the 2002 Powergen Cup Final at Twickenham, scoring a try as London Irish defeated the Northampton Saints.
His solitary England cap came during the Senior tour of Argentina, on 22 June 2002 at the Estadio José Amalfitani. He qualifies for England via his English mother.
After spending two seasons with Benetton Treviso, Horak signed with Saracens for the 2009–10 season but announced his retirement with immediate effect in January 2010. He is a tall player with a big left boot.
Coaching career
In 2010, Free State Cheetahs head coach Naka Drotské appointed Horak as the defence coach and head of the Cheetahs academy prior to the 2010 Currie Cup Premier Division competition. He became the general manager of the team in 2011 and also helped out as defensive coach at the Griffons in 2011.
At the end of 2012, he relinquished his role as general manager at the Free State Cheetahs to take over as director of rugby as well as head coach at Varsity Cup side UFS Shimlas prior to the 2013 Varsity Cup competition, but still continued as Cheetahs defensive coach.
At the start of 2014, it was announced that he signed a five-year contract to join the Eastern Province Kings as defensive coach, following the completion of Shimlas' 2014 Varsity Cup campaign. However, he spent just one season in Port Elizabeth before joining the Sharks for the 2015 season.