Lions eighthman Francke Horn dives over the tryline to score during their URC win over Glasgow Warriors at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The return of eighthman Francke Horn proved to be the catalyst for the Lions’ superb battling 35-24 bonus point win over the Glasgow Warriors in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon.
Horn returned from a lengthy spell out on the sideline with injury, over which he watched the Lions go on a five match losing streak, with him then returning and inspiring them to snap that with a man-of-the-match performance.
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Horn was massive in the loose, carried powerfully, was a menace at the breakdown and showed his impressive awareness after picking up a loose ball and sprinting almost 40 metres to score an opportunistic try in an action packed showing.
Speaking after the match Horn admitted he was thrilled to be back and able to make a positive contribution to the team again.
“It’s awesome to be back. It was quite a tough few months watching the guys play and not getting the results. So being back on the park and being able to contribute again was amazing,” said Horn.
“I love this team. We work really hard. To have two yellow cards and a red card in the match and still pull it through, I am so proud of the guys and it was a great team effort.
“Most of the second half we played with 14 or 13 men and the guys just never gave up. We played our hearts out. Earlier this week we came together and decided that we were going to play for each other and I think we showed that on the field.”
The Lions will be hoping that this result is a turning point in their campaign, as they attempt to make a late season charge for the URC play-offs, which may already be out of their grasp.
“I really hope so and believe so (that this could be a turning point). This result gives us a bit of belief back and most of our games are back at home. It is great to have all the fans here. Thank you for coming out,” added Horn.
Lions captain Marius Louw was also very happy with the result and was impressed with the more clinical nature of the team a week after they comfortably lost to the Sharks because of not taking their opportunities.
Last weekend was tough for us with the performance that we had and not executing. With the opportunities we created last week we knew what we could do, we just had to believe and execute and this week we were a lot better at taking those opportunities instead of missing them,” said Louw.
“This was bound to happen for us. Over time the wheel has been turning and that’s how this team is, so a result like this is not unexpected and I believe we can build on what we have done today going forward.
“We just need to take it day by day. We work extremely hard behind the scenes. First thing now is recovery, celebrate the win and then start again on Monday. We have the Bulls next weekend. A tough game at Loftus, they have had some great turnouts in the crowd, so we have to be prepared for that.”