The Emirates Lions have been rocked by a long-term injury to one of their inspirational rising stars, eighthman Francke Horn.
Horn underwent surgery on Wednesday for an ankle injury after limping off two weeks ago during the team’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship win against the Dragons, ironically the same team they will face in their entry into the European Challenge Cup this weekend.
While it was hoped that Horn would be fit again before the new year, the prognosis wasn’t good and the loose forward will spend between eight and 12 weeks on the sideline.
This has prompted the Lions to deregister him as a European Cup player and replace him in their Challenge Cup registered squad with Rynhardt Jonker.
Horn has been a massive part of the Lions run in the URC this season, scoring five tries and sitting now fourth in the try-scoring log for players in the tournament.
A few weeks back assistant coach Ricardo Loubscher praised Horn’s involvement and said he would be a big loss for the side.
“We are definitely going to miss Francke,” he said.
“We are talking about two different players with different strengths. Francke does attack work for us. He is brilliant with his footwork, keeping the ball alive, and with his anticipation in being in the right place at the right time.”
The Lions have used veteran Bok Jaco Kriel as his replacement.