Home draw is Horan’s other growing concern
It will be Marcus Horan alright so there’s no need to worry on that count. However, over the last few weeks, he has been allowing a healthy looking beard to dominate his countenance until it has now attained proportions of which he is quietly proud. “It’s there simply because I hate shaving. I really do. Why, don’t you like it? Well, I do, although I suppose it will have to come off some day soon.”
Be that as it may, Horan is all set to produce another top-class performance for Munster this afternoon and if it includes a tenth try for his side in European action, he’ll be all the happier.
Since his days at St Munchin’s College – where he picked up a Munster Schools Junior Cup medal in 1993 – he has never been the biggest or heaviest of prop forwards but invariably one of the quickest, displaying footballing skills rarely associated with a loose head prop, a point backed up by his vital scores in the two games against Clermont Auvergne.
He has made a habit of it since first coming into the side as a late substitute for Peter Clohessy in Munster’s first victory on French soil against Colomiers back in 1999 when he marked the occasion with a try.
Illness afforded Horan a break during the Christmas period when he had the good luck to miss the Magners League defeats by Connacht and Ulster.
“I feel a little fresher than I would otherwise and it’s nice to get a break for a week or two but the important thing then is to psychologically to get your head switched back on and make sure that you are sharp when you come back,” he said.
Having satisfied himself and everybody else on that issue with a thundering display against Sale last week, he now turns himself to Montauban this afternoon.
Their first meeting last October saw Munster scrape home 19-17 at the death. “We probably didn’t show them the respect they deserved. We played well in patches but the performance as a whole wasn’t up to our standards. Having said that, they’re a good team and many sides have underestimated them including ourselves. They play with a lot of passion and a huge amount of pride and this weekend won’t be any different. They’re at home and have the European champions coming to town and there would be no better scalp for them.”
The Munster players are keen to ensure a home quarter-final for their magnificent supporters.
“We owe that to them, especially in the current financial climate,” he stressed. “That is very much in the players’ minds and if we can help in any way in helping people to walk to the stadium rather than flying, it would make a huge difference. That is certainly a huge driving force for us.
“There’s definitely no complacency among the players with what’s at stake (today). We would be disappointed with the try we gave away and the manner in which we gave it away against Sale and there’s a lot to improve on although that’s probably being hyper-critical,
“When you look at last week’s game, there was a pressure there that won’t be there this time. We knew then that we could go out of the competition if we lost and that’s not there this weekend so you might ask what is our driving force. But there are fellas in this team who have been around long enough that they would draw on something and this time it’s for the supporters.
“We know Montauban have nothing to lose and so will try everything and will throw the ball around. For us, if we can stick to the basics and get them right and chase every 50-50 ball and every lost cause, we’ll test whether they’re up for that. It’s going to be very tough but if we do the dirty stuff first, we should come out on top.”
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