Daryl Horgan: Senior caps should have tied Declan Rice to Republic

The Wycombe Wanderers winger can understand Declan Rice's decision to switch allegiances to England but believes he should not have been in a position to do so after playing senior football for Ireland

Tue, 10 Nov, 2020 - 13:48

Brendan O'Brien

It's twin towers have long been dismantled but Daryl Horgan insists that the prospect of facing England at Wembley still makes the blood pump that bit faster through the veins of an Irish footballer.

The Republic take on the old enemy in the world-famous arena on Thursday but Aaron Connolly played down the significance of the venue and the opposition earlier this week when stating that it was a big game but no more than any other.

Horgan has never played in Wembley before. Ireland's pre-match session there tomorrow will be his first opportunity to set foot in the stadium and he is clearly more enthused by the wider context of this friendly encounter than his fellow Galwayman.

“When you’re coming through, there are a few places you want to play: your own international stadium, the club you follow when you’re younger, and Wembley is always one. It’s up there with your Bernabeus and Nou Camps.

“To get the opportunity to play there would be brilliant and an Ireland v England game would be unreal. So hopefully I’ll get a run out and we’ll see how it goes. It will be a special occasion no matter what really.”

Connolly may be the younger of the two but he has far more experience of playing against England's best players even in his short time featuring for Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League.

Horgan's career has so far skirted around the fringes of the English top flight, first in the League of Ireland and after that with a spell n the Championship with Preston North End which was followed by a move north to Hibernians.

Now back in the Championship with Wycombe Wanderers, he will be facing the vast majority of Gareth Southgate's players for the first time if Stephen Kenny uses him. The one man he has history with is Declan Rice from their time together in camp with Ireland.

Most Irish players tend to shy away from commenting on Rice's decision to switch allegiances from Ireland to his native England but Horgan is well able to express an honest opinion without straying towards anything controversial and his take on Rice is one that many people share.

“Yeah, look, we all know how good a player he is. He’s a very talented guy. It’s one of them. He should never have been in that position in the first place. There should be stricter rules so that if you play a friendly then that’s that.

But the position presented itself, he was born in England, has lived in England all his life.

“I can understand it. It’s disappointing from our point of view because he’s a very, very good player but I wouldn’t hold it against him. He’s a young guy and he probably felt the option would never be there so it presented itself and he made the decision and he’s having a great career. I’m sure he’ll have a great career for the foreseeable future.”

Horgan's own prospects have taken a very definite turn for the better. The call from Kenny that came last month may have been prompted by the Covid crisis that engulfed the Ireland camp but he took full advantage of his first international shot in two years with a short but effective cameo against Wales and a start in Finland.

Horgan has been honest in stating that he simply wasn't playing well enough during those two years out of the picture to merit a place in the national squad but he credits the move back to the Championship where the run of games is relentless as one of the reasons behind his improved form.

Another contributing factor has been a change in mentality. He has, he explained, stopped beating himself up for every mistake. The effect has been marked but it was a change in attitude that was easier said than done.

“Very tough. Yeah, very tough because it's almost ingrained in your head from when I was younger. So, I'm still not perfect by any stretch but there's definite improvements.

“My little man (his son Jake) was the one that really helped me because he was giving out to me for beating myself up and if someone who is a little five-year old has more emotional maturity than yourself then you know you're in trouble.”