Michael John Horak (born 3 June 1977) is a South African former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and rugby union coach. He represented

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in rugby league, and played one game for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in rugby union. He last played at fullback or

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

for

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

Background

Michael Horak was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa.

Career

Playing career

After playing for the Free State Schools

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The ...

side in 1995 and the Free State U21s in 1996 he moved to Australia to play

, and played for the

Perth Reds The Western Reds were a rugby league football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as the Western Reds, they entered into the Australian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rival Super League competition i ...

. He has also played for

, including at the 1997

Super League World Nines The Super League World Nines (known as the ''Gatorade Super League World Nines'' due to sponsorship), was a pre-season rugby league nines tournament between national sides. Set up in the midst of the Super League war and created in opposition to ...

. Horak was signed by

Bob Dwyer Bob Dwyer AM (born 29 November 1940) is an Australian rugby union coach. Early life Educated at Sydney Boys High School, from which he graduated in 1957, Dwyer played 2nd XV rugby for the school, lining up alongside former Canterbury-Bankstow ...

for the

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

in 1997 and became Leicester's first-choice full back, replacing the retiring John Liley and ahead of Fijian international

Waisale Serevi Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi (born 20 May 1968) is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long car ...

. 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 Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

before signing for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

in 1999. He left Irish in 2000 but re-signed in 2001. He started in the 2002 Powergen Cup Final at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, scoring a try as London Irish defeated the

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. His solitary

cap came during the tour of Argentina, on 22 June 2002 at the

Estadio José Amalfitani es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered s ...

. He qualifies for

via his English mother. After spending two seasons with Benetton Treviso, Horak signed with

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, 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 in 2011. At the end of 2012, he relinquished his role as general manager at the to take over as director of rugby as well as head coach at

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each unive ...

side prior to the

2013 Varsity Cup The 2013 Varsity Cup was contested from 4 February to 8 April 2013. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-un ...

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 as defensive coach, following the completion of Shimlas'

2014 Varsity Cup The 2014 Varsity Cup was contested from 3 February to 7 April 2014. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-u ...

campaign. However, he spent just one season in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

before joining the for the 2015 season.

References

External links

Saracens profile
*
London Irish profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horak, Michael 1977 births Living people 20th-century South African sportsmen 21st-century South African sportsmen Alumni of Grey College, Bloemfontein Benetton Rugby players Bristol Bears players Dual-code rugby internationals England international rugby union players Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Expatriate rugby union players in Italy Leicester Tigers players London Irish players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Gauteng Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Johannesburg Saracens F.C. players South Africa national rugby league team players South African expatriate rugby league players South African expatriate rugby union players in England South African expatriate sportspeople in Australia South African expatriate sportspeople in Italy South African people of English descent South African rugby league players South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players