Horgan is declared fit for contact training
Horgan made an abortive journey to Nottingham on Tuesday for a consultation with the surgeon who carried out a shoulder operation in August. However the specialist fell ill, forcing Horgan to return home no wiser than when he arrived.
A second meeting was set up for yesterday in Edinburgh, necessitating a 4am start through Dublin. The return journey involved a trip from Edinburgh to Cork via Manchester, meaning a cumulative 16-hour journey for the clean bill of health he has been striving for since the summer.
“The injured shoulder is now, according to the surgeon, stronger than the other one. It is a huge relief. I wasn’t sure what the news would be and the last few days, given the circumstances, have been particularly nerve-wracking.
“He has told me I can resume training immediately and can take full contact within a week.”
Horgan missed the Heineken Cup final against Leicester after breaking a bone in his hand and that injury ruled him out of the Irish tour to New Zealand.
The ongoing shoulder injury further put his career on hold but at least he has recovered faster than anticipated.
“The initial diagnosis was that I might be out for six months. It will be great to get back into the thick of things.”
Coach Alan Gaffney was thrilled to hear that Horgan and another of his young stars, Donnacha O’Callaghan, are ready to resume training.
Gaffney’s squad was down to the bare minimum - 22 fit players - for the last Heineken Cup clash against Perpignan in Limerick recently.
But now the Cork Constitution duo are ready to join up with Munster again - Horgan immediately and O’Callaghan within a week.
O’Callaghan suffered a hairline fracture of the jaw in Munster’s opening defeat by Gloucester.
Both have recovered earlier than anticipated and the good news was conveyed to the coach when he arrived in Dublin yesterday for a regular meeting of provincial coaches at IRFU headquarters.
“Anthony phoned me from Edinburgh after he’d just seen his specialist to be told he had been given the all clear to resume full training.
“That, as well as the fact that Martin Cahill is already back and both Donnacha and Jeremy Staunton will be cleared for training within a week, is brilliant news, the best news I have had for a while.”
Meanwhile, as Horgan attends a wedding, O’Callaghan will be present at Temple Hill today, but only as a spectator, when Constitution take on St. Mary’s College in the AIB League game of the day.
Constitution impressed with an away victory over Galwegians while St. Mary’s beat champions Shannon at Templeville Road.
St. Mary’s coach Brent Pope is expecting a huge battle: We have had some good struggles between the clubs in the past but it is always difficult to pick up a result in Cork.
“I am happy that we won our opening game and set down a bit of a marker. In a sense, the pressure is off because we won our opening game. Pressure tells in different ways and teams really do get a boost by winning early in the campaign.
“Having said that, there will be a different type of pressure in Cork. It won’t be easy because Constitution play a very similar type of game to the one we aspire to.
“We like to play it out wide and so do they. Risks have to be taken and mistakes will be punished but that’s the type of game both sides do play. It should be good for the supporters at any rate and I think it will be a game well worth watching.”
St. Mary’s have made four changes, two of them because of injury, in the side from the Shannon game.
Mark McHugh replaces Daragh Hughes at full back and John Kilbride is in at scrum half for Simon Keogh. In the back row, Shane Jennings and Jacques Georges are injured and are replaced by John Ellis and paul kelly respectively.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Munster Heineken Cup game against Viadana on Saturday December 14 will have a 6pm kick-off.
ST. MARY'S COLLEGE: M. McHugh, C. McPhillips, K. Lewis, G. Gannon (captain), J. McWeeney, B. Lynn, J. Kilbride, P. Coyle, G. Hickie, D. Clare, G. Logan, J. Ryan, E. Keane, P. Kelly, J. Ellis.
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