Little big man has learned the hard way

Ireland v USA: Gerry Thornley talks to prop Marcus Horan who has added the scrummaging nous to complement his speed around the paddock.

As props go, Marcus Horan has always cut a bit of a dash. The examples of his ball-handling skills and remarkable pace are many, the pick of them being that stunning outside break for a try against Stade Français in the European Cup quarter-finals last season. You had to blink twice to make sure it was a "1" and not a "10" on the back of his jersey. Even Carlos Spencer would have been proud of it.

Of course, the more a prop does things like this the more the cognoscenti presume he mustn't be doing his stuff in the dark arts of front-row forward play. They hark back to the days when men were men, outhalves were outhalves and props were behemoths who wouldn't see the ball in their paws from one end of the season to the next, and, even if they did, wouldn't know whether it was stuffed or pumped.

Being just over six foot and around 16½ stone, Horan will invariably be coming up against bigger men in the front-row ferment. Thus, improving his scrummaging has been the area of the game he's had to concentrate on, with help from Munster's scrum coach Paul McCarthy. He hasn't sacrificed galavanting around the paddock completely. But that is secondary, and has its time and place. The hard yards before the fun yards.

"You learn hard lessons, especially against French teams. If you're not tuned in for this aspect of the game, you will get found out and I have worked hard on it," says Horan.

"My attitude would be work at these things first and maybe with five or 10 minutes to go a good opportunity out in the loose could come for me, because I feel I would last that bit longer than certain other guys in my position. It's a good philosophy which a lot of coaches have been drilling into me."

There are things he can do to help compensate for the size factor, such as his quickness to "the hit" by trying to anticipate the referee's call to engage. Being a little more flexible than some of his opponents, he'll try to get as low as he can and generally work them into positions they're not comfortable in.

In the last 10 minutes against the Springboks when he was conceding over three stone to CJ van der Linde, the general verdict was Horan appeared to struggle, and was penalised by Paul Honiss for bringing down one scrum, which led to the Boks' opting for another put-in on the Irish line.

"There were two scrums before that and his (van der Linde's) hand went to ground each time and the ref never did anything about it. When the third scrum collapsed I was still actually on my feet. But it's the referee's decision and there's nothing you can do about it. We definitely got the angle right on the final scrum. We gave them no openside angle to drive on. That was a job well done."

Horan looks a little indignant about the flak he copped and the suggestion he struggled in those scrums.

"If you had five referees refereeing the same scrum, what way would the decision go? Scrummaging laws are a very fine line. I was happy myself with what happened. I just felt the decision was borderline."

Having had those final 10 minutes on the pitch Horan has sympathy for the likes of Donncha O'Callaghan, who had removed his tracksuit, but didn't make it over the sideline. Been there, bought the T-shirt. It also ensured a deliriously happy end to what had been a tough week, despite being utterly cleared of making any racist comment toward any Ospreys player at an ERC hearing the preceding Wednesday.

His sense of panic over missing a day in camp, and relief at the verdict, made him train like a demon the next day, and he didn't look back. A bright, thoughtful, talkative lad who answers questions easily, Horan doesn't seem to be quite as intense as of yore, but he's still a sensitive soul and he's still bitter about what he believes were trumped up, tit-for-tat citings (those for a punch and stamping weren't even deemed worth hearing).

"You can't believe that people are like that. I'm probably a bit naïve as a person to think that people would be like that. But it does open your eyes to human nature. To do something like that so easily I can't understand, and walk away and wash your hands of it, shocked me."

You ask him if he feels exonerated and he admits candidly: "I do and I don't to be honest about it. It's very hard when you get people coming up joking to you, 'oh, how's the racist'? Because first of all it's a delicate subject, particularly in Ireland nowadays, with the trouble we're having with street crimes against foreign people. You wonder how long these jokes will go on, because by right I shouldn't have to deal with that."

It was particularly upsetting for Horan to learn someone had come up to his father during a Munster Senior League semi-final between Shannon and Garryowen and shouted "well, how's the racist?" at Dooradoyle last Sunday.

"It was said jokingly, but I wouldn't find that funny, especially in a public place. They (the Ospreys) have washed their hands of it now, which is the hardest thing to deal with."

Horan is better equipped to deal with the episode than he might have been four years ago when making his international debut against the USA Eagles. He also has 21 caps to his name, unlike the 23-year-old debutant who came on as a replacement against the same opponents in that 83-3 win in Manchester, New Hampshire.

It was the longest of weeks in that dreary, regimented town which, as we can appreciate even more sadly now, is something of a barometer of American politics. And, as Horan says himself, it somehow seems a lot longer than four years ago.

What contributes to that feeling is probably the frustration he felt at having to wait another 17 months for his second cap in the game against Fiji. "It was great for me to get the cap, but it was hard to get back in after that and when I look at the gap between the first and second (caps) it was very disappointing."

Without wishing any disrespect to the Eagles or subsequent Tests, like many others, Horan regards his first start in the Six Nations, at Lansdowne Road against France two seasons ago, as his first real cap. The sense that one was away from the madding crowds of Six Nations' days was reinforced for Horan - a late call-up after the Argentinian leg - because none of his family were in attendance in Manchester. He has very vague memories of the day, except for two things.

"My one strong memory was that the heat was unbelievable. We were on the bench with just T-shirts, and the heat was unbearable, but it was a great buzz to get on."

Nearing the 57-minute mark, Warren Gatland wryly asked Horan if he wanted to go on. "I never heard such a stupid question in all my life," smiles Horan at the memory, who went on as a more unfamiliar tighthead for Paul Wallace. "I would have gone into the second row if they'd asked me."

Understudying Peter Clohessy for many years, Horan has had to learn the values of patience. Eventually, the 2002/'03 season was his breakthrough year at Munster, and injury to Reggie Corrigan also opened his pathway into the Irish team. "That was a good year. It was unfortunate for Reggie with the broken arm, but you've got to take your opportunities when you get 'em."

Horan appeared from the bench in the wins away to Italy and Scotland, before starting in the wins over France and Wales. He went well. Fears over the Irish scrum, and, by implication Horan, proved unfounded.

Like Munster's Euro campaigns, though, the abiding memory is one of anti-climax, namely the Grand Slam showdown with England.

"They (England) were good on the day, but I don't think we performed and you look back on things like that and you think you've left something behind you. But, hopefully, those opportunities will come again. For Ireland, there might have been a big gap before getting a chance like that again, but I think we're a lot more consistent now and we're up there at the top. Each year there's great hope there."

Horan missed the first three games of last season's Six Nations with a back injury and today marks his first start since the Namibian game in the World Cup. Readapting to the role of a replacement is not easy, all the more so if, like Horan, you would tend to be vocal in the warm-ups.

"It's pointless getting too rallied up just before kick-off because the chances are you mightn't be needed and you can tire yourself out being too mentally wound up."

In the past you always had the impression he could dip into a bit of a red mist, but not so much lately.

"I'm not as hyper as before and don't react as badly. I've channelled that aggression a bit better maybe. Obviously, there would be moments when it does spill over, but anybody does that anyway. You mature as well. I'm enjoying it a bit more as well, no matter what. I was very much thinking ahead of the weeks down the line, but I'm kinda taking it each game at a time, and enjoying it each game at a time, and the build-up to each game, rather than getting over-anxious and worried about it. I've learned that lesson from guys around me, seeing how they relish the pressures of the job, and that's an important aspect of it."

Like many of those called up today, he and the team are in something of a no-win situation. It's also, as he readily acknowledges, classically set up for an anti-climax.

"As Eddie says himself, if we can win by 20 points we win by 20; if we can win by more, we'll do that. It's just a matter of playing to the best of our ability rather than going through the motions to get a win. There's enough players in my situation who have been sitting on the bench for long enough. I think it's time to face up."

With Marcus, you wouldn't expect anything else.