I’ll take a dig, but gouging? No way

CERTAIN deeds of a dubious nature are accepted by those who ply their trade in that mysterious area known as the front-row of a rugby scrum.

An opponent can walk on, kick or even punch you if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They have a mafia all of their own in there with unspoken, unwritten laws and where one action is not tolerated.

Sticking a finger in an opponent’s eye is that which is frowned upon and in the language of the game, the victim is expected to seek retribution. Essentially, anybody guilty of eye gouging is fair game and yet it’s very often the victim rather than the offender who comes off worst in the punishment stakes. That’s why Marcus Horan spent 10 minutes in the bin during the Heineken Cup game against Llanelli Scarlets following the word of touch judge Chris White and was also roundly criticised for letting down his teammates at a crucial stage of the game.

While understanding that reaction and the reasoning, Horan’s explanation for an act of retaliation sheds an entirely different light on the incident.

“I’m not making excuses but I was gouged against Llanelli,” he reveals. “It’s one thing I don’t tolerate. In hindsight, my reaction was probably wrong and put the team in jeopardy of losing the game. Whatever way the scrum went, he was under pressure and his hand went across my face and he went for my eyes. I can take a dig off a guy and walk away from it, but when somebody does that, I see red.

“It’s happened to me before and it’s a scary situation. I regret getting sin binned because it could have cost us the game and that would have been hard to take. But I don’t apologise for defending myself. There’s evidence on the video of Rog (skipper Ronan O’Gara) saying to the referee that there was a serious allegation of gouging. My discipline hasn’t been an issue over the years except for a few unfortunate incidents and I just have to live with that and get on with it.”

It wasn’t the only moment in the Llanelli game when Horan found himself in a bit of bother. He wasn’t long back on the pitch after the yellow card when there was another touch of ‘afters’. This time, the on-field officials saw little to worry them but the match commissioner, Bill Dunlop, having examined the video, felt Horan had some explaining to do. So Marcus set off for the hearing at a time when he was badly needed at home in Castleconnell to help his wife Cate look after their newly born daughter Heather.

“I attended the hearing and felt it was all a bit of a joke.

“I was dragged up to Dublin on the week that my wife has a baby to stand up in front of two guys to answer a case for kicking a guy. They watched it and just couldn’t believe I was called in for this. I was very angry. The commissioner went through a video and thought he saw this bizarre incident where I was supposed to have kicked a guy on the head deliberately. What happened is that I was dragged out of the scrum by the scruff of the neck by Simon Easterby and my leg flicked forward and brushed this guy’s head and he went down like he was shot.

“Even if you walk out of there proved innocent, as I very definitely was, there’s still a black cloud over your name.

“I had an incident before when I was accused of racism. People will still tar you with you that brush even though there was never anything in it. These things just hang over you and you’ve just got to try and put them behind you and I think I have done that. But these yellow cards do tot up. I just need to stay out of trouble, keep the head down and work hard and that’s the aim for the rest of the season.”

Horan is 100% correct in claiming he is a player with an outstanding disciplinary record and that his yellow card against Wasps in the first Heineken game this season was for allegedly coming in from the side and had nothing to do with foul play. As for the citing after the Llanelli game, the hearing, chaired by Jeff Blackett, lasted ten minutes and a decision of no case to answer was handed down moments later. Horan has known good and bad times with Munster and Ireland in France since the day in 1999 when he came in as a late substitute for Peter Clohessy against Colomiers.

It was a red letter day for the former St Munchins’ schoolboy who was desperately anxious to break into the big time but didn’t see how it could happen given the presence of the legendary ‘Claw’. To his credit, when the chance finally came, he was ready and able to grasp it with both hands.

“I suppose I didn’t realise the enormity of it all going into that game,” he reflects. “An Irish province hadn’t won in France before and I was drafted in at the last minute when ‘Claw’ got injured. It was a bizarre situation in that John Hayes was injured during the game and Ian Murray came on. Then he got injured and he had to go off and I think Woody ended up at prop with Frankie hooking.

“I got a try and it’s a great memory and it was the start of something big for Munster because there was always the mental block of going to France and not having won before. I think we’ve got over that and we know we’re capable of beating teams out there and even star studded sides. The Toulouse game in Bordeaux the same season is a graphic example. They were good memories and helped to build our confidence for the future. A lot of the players then were very young but they’re still playing and going away to big clubs doesn’t faze us any more.”

Prop forwards aren’t renowned for their footballing talents but Horan is a very obvious exception. The try at Colomiers was the first of six he has dotted down in 58 Heineken Cup appearances. France, as we have seen, has been good to him but he’s under no illusions as to the challenge lying in wait at Stade Marcel Michelin tomorrow.

“The way the games are falling, this is probably make and break for our season,” he says. “Everybody talks about the final game in Thomond Park but you can’t look beyond this. We did well against them in the first game and while it’s a different team that takes the field tomorrow, I think we still have a psychological thing on them.

“They have to come out fighting and get the result on their own patch. I don’t believe they fielded a weakened team against us. Ledesma played the week before they played us and then John Smit came in for our game. Do you think that’s a weakened team? Smit was the World Cup winning captain. They have way more strength in depth than any team we meet and so to say it was weakened is showing disrespect to those who came in.

“Teams like Clermont can make 14 changes between one week and another. Most teams can’t but it just shows you the strength they have and the money power they have that enables them draw these players in. They have guys at the top of their game who don’t mind playing every second game but it’s different here. Everybody in the Munster squad wants to play every week. On the one hand, you can say they’re fresh and keen; on the other, you wonder if they’re match sharp.”

The 30 year-old Horan renews rivalry tomorrow with Argentine prop Martin Scelzo whom he describes as “a big unit and a strong guy”.

He has come up against so many of these players over the years that names mean little to him and perhaps that’s why he didn’t know that Scelzo was also his direct opponent when Ireland and the Pumas clashed in the World Cup at the Parc des Princes in September.

“We dominated them in the scrums in Thomond Park the last day and they’re going to be upset about that and trying to get their own back.

“We’ve got to start strong there and take them on up front.

“If you can upset a French team, their crowd tends to turn against them and it’s down to the pack to try and do that."