Marcus Horan
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| Date of Birth: | 7 September 1977 | |
| Place of Birth: | Limerick, Ireland | |
| Height: | 185 cm | |
| Weight: | 105 kg | |
| Position: | loose-head prop | |
| Country: | Ireland | |
| Province: | Munster | |
Marcus Horan born September 7th, 1977 is an Irish rugby union player who plays loose-head-prop for Munster and Ireland.
Horan was educated at St. Munchin's College and Limerick Institute of Technology. He first sprung to notice when he replaced Peter Clohessy in the Munster team back in 1998, and he has never looked back. The Limerick player is not like your normal loose-head where body dimensions are concerned but what Horan lacks in physicality he makes up with technique and a superb footballing brain.
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[edit] Ireland
He won his first international cap on the summer tour of 2000 when coming on against the United States. Marcus then had to wait over two years for his second which came in November '02 against Fiji. He then won three caps as a replacement before returning to the starting line-up against France in March '03.
He then became a regular in the side playing in eight of the next ten internationals, before losing his place midway during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He did win caps as a replacement in the final three games of that tournament but due to injury, he missed the opening three games of the 2004 6 Nations. Horan won another 10 caps as a replacement and he started the November 2004 Test against the United States and twice against Japan during last summer.
Horan made an encouraging start to the 2005/06 season by being selected at loose-head prop for the autumn internationals against New Zealand, Australia and Romania - he scored his fourth Test try against the All Blacks. He started every game in the 2006 Six Nations Championship except the French tussle due to illness and despite a bad looking injury against Wales, he recovered to play in the Triple Crown winning game against England. A further cap followed against New Zealand in June.
To date Horan has scored an impressive 5 tries for Ireland, most recently against New Zealand and South Africa.
[edit] Munster
Horan was part of the winning team which saw Munster crowned Europeans champions at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for the first time on May 20th, 2006. Horan managed to recover from a serious calf injury which he picked up in training six weeks prior to the final to play a pivotal role in the Heineken Cup Final against Biarritz. The injury saw Horan miss the semi final of the tournament against Leinster. Horan returned to play alongside Jerry Flannery and John Hayes in what is the formidable Munster front row. In a nail biting final, Munster defeated Biarritz 23 - 19, with Munster tries coming from Peter Stringer and Trevor Halstead.
[edit] Quotes
"The bus journey to the stadium was very special. We hit the city centre and we saw a sea of red in front of us. There were guys with their fists in the air and tears in their eyes. Grown men crying right in front of us. It suddenly hit me what I was about to experience, because the injury had been the only thing in my head all week. Missing that day, when I’d been involved all season, would have broken my heart." -
Marcus Horan
[edit] External links
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Forwards: | Best • Byrne • Corrigan • Costello • S.Easterby • Foley • Gleeson • Horan • Hayes • Longwell • Miller • O'Callaghan • O'Connell • O'Kelly • Quinlan • Sheahan • Wood | |
| Backs: | Dempsey • Doak • G.Easterby • Hickie • A.Horgan • S.Horgan • Humphreys • Kelly • Maggs • O'Driscoll • O'Gara • Stringer • Wallace | ||
| Coach: | O'Sullivan |
