Johannesburg – The Emirates Lions‘ Quan Horn put in one helluva shift during the United Rugby Championship (URC), with the fullback awarded the tournament’s Iron Man Award on Tuesday.
Horn played all 18 regular season matches this season, racking up an impressive 1 428 minutes played. During the season, the 21-year-old scored four tries, beating 39 defenders and making six clean breaks. He gained 984m according to Ultimate Rugby, with the URC’s statistics placing him in the Top 10 in that field.
His tackle success during the competition was 75% and based on that number, will be an area that he will look to improve upon in the coming years. Nevertheless, Horn put in some impressive performances for the Johannesburg-based team, showing a willingness to attack from deep.
The ever-improving Horn also made some eye-catching and powerful runs, crashing into defenders with glee, or stepping his way into space, much to the delight of supporters and pundits alike. Horn certainly has a bright future ahead of him and will hopefully only go from strength-to-strength in the seasons to come.
Earlier this year, in an exclusive interview with IOL, Horn revealed that he must work on all areas of his game.
“I think I can improve in every aspect of my game – kicking, attacking, and defending.
“The biggest improvement for me is to take up more of a play-making role and put other players away (on attack). As the first receiver, I must become the secondary playmaker to the No 10 (currently Gianni Lombard) to put less stress on his shoulders.
“To be more in a playmaker’s role is one of my biggest work-ons,” he concluded.
Teammate and Lions captain Marius Louw, meanwhile, came third in the Iron Man category with 1 371 minutes played, while another South African player – Ruan Nortje of the Bulls – completed a SA Top 3 sweep of most minutes played with 1 394 minutes played to slot into the second spot.
IOL Sport
