Marcus Horan (born 7 September 1977) is a retired Irish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who played

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Early life

Horan was educated at Scoil Seanain Naofa (Clonlara National School), St. Munchin's College and

Limerick Institute of Technology The Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Luimnigh) was an institute of technology, located in Limerick, Ireland. The institute had five campuses that were located in Limerick, Thurles, Clonmel, as well as a r ...

. The current Munster and Ireland prop

Dave Kilcoyne David Kilcoyne (born 14 December 1988) is an Irish rugby union player for Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup. He plays as a prop and represents UL Bohemians in the All-Ireland League. Early life Born ...

is a cousin of Horan's.

Munster

Horan made his Munster debut in the 1999–00 season, and was part of the winning team that saw Munster crowned Europeans Champions in 2006. He managed to recover from a calf injury that he picked up in training six weeks prior to the final, and played a role in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

final, where Munster defeated Biarritz 23–19. Horan also played an integral part in Munster's

victory at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 24 May 2008, when Munster were crowned European Champions for the second time, defeating

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

16–13. He lost his place in the Munster team to

Wian du Preez Wian du Preez (born 30 October 1982) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing in France for . He plays as a prop, primarily at loosehead. Du Preez, a native of Free State, played for the Cheetahs from 2007 until 2010. After comp ...

but remained an important part of the team, frequently being sprung from the bench and occasionally starting. A broken hand in October 2010 and an irregular heartbeat meant Horan was out for four months. He made his comeback from injury against

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...

on 18 February 2011, and won back the number 1 jersey, starting against Ospreys and

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

as Munster secured the

2010–11 Magners League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

. He became the seventh Munster player to earn 200 caps for the club in a

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

game against Ospreys on 3 December 2011. Horan agreed terms for a one-year contract extension with Munster in March 2012. On 11 April 2013, Horan announced his intention to retire from professional rugby at the end of the 2012–13 season. His last game for Munster was the

fixture against

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in t ...

on 19 April 2013.

Ireland

Horan made his international debut against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

during the 1999–00 season, but did not win another cap until the 2002–03 season, which came against Fiji. He lost his place to Reggie Corrigan during the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

and the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2005 Six Nations Championship The 2005 Six Nations Championship was the sixth Six Nations Championship played since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the Home Nations and Five Nations Championships, this was the 111th season of the tournament. Wales ...

, but consistently strong performances for Munster saw him regain his place in the team. He held down his place for the 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

and

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

, starting every match of Ireland's victorious Grand Slam campaign. He was also an integral part of

Eddie O'Sullivan Eddie O'Sullivan (born 21 November 1958) is an Irish rugby union coach, player (wing & fly-half) and a former Gaelic footballer. He is a former head coach of the United States national rugby union team and of the Ireland national rugby union ...

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to ...

squad. He missed the 2009 November Tests after having heart surgery, and lost his place to

Cian Healy Cian Healy (born 7 October 1987) is an Irish rugby union rugby player. He plays for Leinster, and has also won over 100 caps for the Ireland national team. He was named as part of the Lions squad for the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Austra ...

, who held on to the loosehead-prop position during the 2010 Six Nations Championship. Horan played against the

Barbarians F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

and New Zealand Maori during Ireland's 2010 Summer Tests, but was ruled out of the 2010 November Tests with a broken hand. He missed the

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby unio ...

, but was selected in Ireland's training squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

warm-ups in August 2011. He played against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, but missed out on selection in the final squad for the World Cup.

Statistics

International analysis by opposition

Correct as of 5 July 2017Marcus Horan
''ESPN Scrum'', 5 July 2017

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland ProfilePro14 Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horan, Marcus 1977 births Living people People educated at St Munchin's College Rugby union players from County Clare Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Munster Rugby players Shannon RFC players Rugby union props Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players