Horan has the heart for battle

Relief was Marcus Horan’s predominant emotion when his mystery ailment was diagnosed as a minor heart condition. The 66 times capped Munster and Ireland forward, who is hoping that Saturday’s Shannon v St Mary’s All-Ireland League game won’t be postponed, had known for four years that something was not quite right but nobody could unearth the specifics of the problem. He last lined out for Munster against Treviso on October 17 but had to leave the field after just 10 minutes. After that, his condition was diagnosed and he was subsequently operated on. Horan returned to Munster training on December 29 but his planned competitive comeback with Shannon last weekend didn’t happen because of the adverse weather.
The Clonlara man told The Clare Champion on Tuesday that his heart problem only manifested itself during competitive match situations.

“It only surfaced when I was at extreme exertion, whereas when I was tested it was just an ordinary day off that I had. This thing was rearing its head every so often and then going away. Luckily enough, when they did find it, I was delighted to know that there was something there and I wasn’t going mad. I wasn’t getting old and getting unfit, which is what I was thinking. It was something you could put your finger on,” he explained.
Horan’s relief was linked to the fact that now at least he knew what was wrong.
“I had mixed emotions at the start because it was something I was dealing with for the last four years. I didn’t know what it was. Even that was pretty worrying in a sense because I had been tested for a lot of things, including asthma. I even got my heart tested last year as well during the Six Nations and nothing showed up,” he said.
Horan didn’t deny that while he was glad to discover exactly what was wrong with him, the diagnosis did concern him.
“Then after that (diagnosis) you’re just in a bit of shock because of what it is and I suppose anything to do with your heart is a bit worrying. But as it turned out, it was something fairly common and something that’s very treatable. I’m just glad that I met the right guy to look after it. It’s good now to have that behind me and I’ve got something to look forward to,” he added.
While he has been haunting the gym and is back in full contact training, Horan won’t be fully certain that he is ready to return to Munster and Ireland, until he gives or takes his first competitive hit.
“The one thing that I want to get over me is that first initial hit, that first scrum, that first tackle or carry. I’ll know myself when it does happen and you say, ‘yeah, I’m back in it now’. And everything that has gone before feels like a long way away. That’s where I want to get. For any of the boys that have been through injuries, that first game is all-important. It just seems a bit elusive for me at the moment,” he said, with reference to last week’s postponement of Shannon’s Munster Senior Cup semi-final fixture against UCC.
The best of training or gym work still doesn’t add up to 80 minutes of competitive rugby.
“That’s one thing you can’t replicate in the gym or on the training pitch but we’ve had some good sessions with Munster,” he explained. “A few of the international lads have been away for a week or two resting up. The rest of us have been getting on with the business end of things and we’ve had a few match situations in training with full-on contact. That was pretty enjoyable for me but again you can’t replicate a proper game situation, where the intensity would be a lot higher,” he observed.
The weather hasn’t been much help to anybody in recent weeks and, in fact, has slowed Horan’s return.
“The weather has been hard on everyone but I suppose from my point of view, it’s a bad time of the year to try and get a comeback game. A Munster game, which is a bit more high profile and probably played on better pitches, will have more of a chance of going ahead. But unfortunately for me, trying to play a club game now on pitches that aren’t as well looked after maybe, chances are the games will be called off,” he said.
“The game that Shannon have this Saturday is actually on in Dublin, where I think they’re getting worse weather than we are down here. I’m focused on the game on Saturday now and hopefully it will go ahead but the chances are it could be called off. It’s left me with a load of pent-up energy to get rid of again,” Horan laughed.
Yet there was one definite plus to his lay-off.
“From a personal side of things, my wife had a baby girl a month ago and I was around for that, where I could have been in Dublin with the international team or been away from home. These things happen for a reason maybe and it was good to be around for that,” he said.
Perhaps because he has been laid up, Horan might be fresher later this season, than if he had been playing all winter?
“The way the seasons are, the nature of the game now, a lot of guys are playing right through the year. You look at the Lions players and the season they’ve had, all rolled into one. It’s tough going and I suppose anytime you get an injury or an illness like that, you’ve got to take the good out of it, which is having a break from the game. I suppose in that sense it has been good,” he suggested, although not very convincingly.
“I’m climbing the walls a bit too. I’m just mad to get back to a proper routine and back with the boys again. You feel like you’re missing out on a huge amount, especially that great result in Perpignan. You want to get back for those big days.”
This weekend’s AIL game in Dublin won’t attract the size of crowd that Munster and Ireland play in front of. But at this stage, Horan would settle for a game of rugby in his front lawn, such is his desire to play again.
“You’re just waiting for a day to have 80 minutes put behind you and to say that you’ve got over it. I hope I get that chance now on Saturday. That’s the big test for me, especially because of the procedure I went through. I’ve ticked all the boxes for the medical staff and the fitness staff but the final test for me is to play a game and see how I cope with that,” the Clonara man concluded.