In his fifth season with The Dragons. In that time he established himself on the international scene and earned a fantastic reputation as being one of the most skilful players in the game. Athletic, he reads the game and situations around him fantastically well. Links backs and forwards and is a superb passer of the ball. Led Wales to Grand Slam glory in 2005 and also led the Welsh team in the 2006 Six Nations after Gareth Thomas was ruled out with injury. Toured New Zealand with the Lions in 2005. He recovered from a shoulder operation in the summer of 2006 but was ignored by Welsh coach Gareth Jenkins for the autumn internationals and the Six Nations, Michael put his head down, trained hard and performed consistently for The Dragons. This saw him recalled to the Welsh squad and he impressed on the two test tour.