Mercurial former French international flyhalf Frederic Michalak re-signed for a second spell with Durban-based Super Rugby outfit the Sharks on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old - who won the majority of his 54 Test caps at flyhalf - revealed in April that his long association with 17-time French champions Toulouse would finish at the end of the season.

Michalak, who sprang to prominence on the international stage when he inspired France to the 2003 World Cup semi-finals but then produced his worst performance in the defeat by England, returns to the Sharks with whom he won the Currie Cup in 2008.

He subsequently returned to Toulouse but has seen his first team chances diminish through a series of injuries and loss of form.

Toulouse had offered Michalak another contract but on reduced terms and also effectively ruled out him playing at his preferred fly-half spot which he said gave him no option but to leave the club he first played for aged 18.

Despite being linked to newly-promoted Top 14 side Lyon and rivals Bayonne and Stade Francais, Michalak had spoken of a desire to return to the southern hemisphere and had at one point been thought to be on the verge of signing with the NSW Waratahs as he is married to an Australian.

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