New IRUPA Role For Marcus Horan

Former Munster player Marcus Horan is back involved with the Province as the player development manager for the Irish Rugby Union Players Association (IRUPA).

Horan, a former IRUPA Chairman, retired at the end of last season having made 225 appearances for Munster winning two Heineken Cups along the way and has been given the role while the current incumbent Deirdre Lyons is on maternity leave.

He was acknowledged and respected in his playing days as one of the finest loose-heads of his generation and is delighted to be in the position to assist the current crop along with former players.

“My job is as a player development manager and I’m looking after the players past and present including academy players and development players as well,” explained Horan.

“My main goals are to look after the players’ lives outside of rugby. Rugby obviously takes up a huge part of their life but it only lasts for a short period and the aim is to prepare guys for life after rugby.

“We try to get that sorted as early as we can in their careers and the big encouragement for us is to try and get guys in college at a young age because as their career takes off they’ll have very little time for college and that side of things.

“The aim for us is that most guys can get their college courses done and behind them in their academy years and it then gives them time to concentrate on rugby,” he added.

Along with the huge success he enjoyed at provincial level, Horan also made a big impact at international level. He won his first Six Nations cap during the 2002/03 campaign and was the starting loose-head in all five of Ireland's games when they claimed the Grand Slam in 2009.

And the 36-year-old revealed it’s a difficult transition going from the professional game to life after rugby.

“It’s a part of my life that’s gone and I think you get a chance now to look back on the things you achieved and enjoy those moments. There are days when you’d love to be out there stuck in it and getting those medals and getting those trophies but you move onto other things and I’m quite enjoying what I’m doing now.

“It’s a big change – part of my job now I suppose is identifying that for players. I won’t say it was easy in any way, it’s a huge change to your life. I’ve been very lucky to be involved with a group that was so successful it but when you step outside of it those benefits and perks are gone and you’re into real life I suppose and the support networks aren’t there.

“That’s where IRUPA comes in now and I’m glad to be involved with that. I’ve seen the other side of it as well and my advice to lads is that I’ve been through it now as well and hopefully I can prepare them for life after rugby in a good way.”

Horan played a crucial role in Munster's Heineken Cup successes of 2006 and 2008 as well as their league title wins in 2003 and 2010 and he’s delighted to be able to pass on his expertise through underage coaching.

“I’ve been involved in the Munster Under-19s and doing a few scrum clinics around the province. It has been beneficial for me and hopefully beneficial for some of the young lads as well and the key there is to get young, homegrown talent coming through. It’s always great to see one of our own coming through and achieving big things. It has to start at the lower levels and that’s where I’m involved at the moment.

“It’s enjoyable to still be involved in rugby in some way. I feel like I do have a lot to offer I suppose in giving stuff back. I’ve been blessed with the coaches I’ve had from underage level right up to professional level and when you see the effort they put into me and the guys around me I suppose it’s only right to try and give some of that back.”