Improving Lions will help Francke Horn’s Bok aspirations

Lions eighthman Francke Horn believes that helping improve the form of the Lions and getting them to the goals they set out at the start of the season will assist him in making it into the Springbok setup.

Horn has enjoyed an impressive past few years for the Lions, but has unfortunately been unable to break into the Bok system, despite many expecting him to get a shot last year.

Despite that disappointment Horn admitted it’s not something that worries him too much, and that he is more focused on performing well for the Lions, especially in the coming months when they will play in a number of United Rugby Championship (URC) derbies against fellow SA sides.

Back of mind

“It is always in the back of your mind. The Springboks will always be a personal goal I set for myself. But you can’t focus too hard on that. You have to focus on your game and helping your team come out on top,” explained Horn.

“Especially with the SA derbies (in the URC) coming up, that is where you play against players in your position. South Africa is blessed with a lot of loose forwards and top quality guys.

“So we as a team have to start playing better and win some SA derbies. I think that is how more of our players will get recognised and hopefully more of us will become Springboks.”

Horn is also well aware of the massive amount of loose forward talent SA has, particularly at eighthman where Jasper Wiese, Kwagga Smith, Cameron Hanekom, Evan Roos and Elrigh Louw are some of the players he will have to contend with if he wants to break into the Boks.

“All those guys are quality players. They are not going to roll over and give away their position. So it’s about working hard, playing week in and week out and being a consistent performer,” said Horn.

“There are still six months left until the mid-year internationals. So there is not a lot of time, but enough time to make a statement and make sure people take notice.”

Horn enjoyed a strong start to this season, while he also impressed by being handed the captaincy reins in the absence of franchise captain Marius Louw.

Make things right

But he has gone off the boil a bit, especially in their most recent match, a Challenge Cup loss against Montpellier, and he is hoping to make things right when they welcome Dragons to Ellis Park for their final pool match of the competition.

“I think I started off (the season) really well. I think the last game (against Montpellier) was not up to my standard and that’s something that I take quite personally,” said Horn.

“So I am looking forward to rectifying that this weekend. But in the end if the team plays well, you (often) look good in the team. Rugby is not an individual sport, so to look good the team must be good.

“I think if we can just stick together, like I know we will, and we embrace what’s coming over the next couple of weeks, facing it head on then everyone will look good and the team will also look good.

“I definitely want to keep improving and playing better rugby. But I know that will come with the team being better.”

Looking ahead to the future Horn is currently content where he is, and is more focused on the now than what is to come.

“At the moment I am very happy at the Lions. I like the way the team plays, I like the way I fit into the system, so at the moment I am really happy to play here,” added Horn.