Horne ready for another Italian job

George Horne enjoys playing against Italian opposition.

The
scrum-half’s try-scoring prowess is well-known, but it’s thrown into even
sharper focus when you take a look at his record against the Guinness PRO14’s Italian
representatives.

Three full
seasons with Glasgow Warriors. Nine matches to date against Italian
opposition. Seven tries for the Glasgow number nine. It’s safe to say that – if selected – Horne will be looking to maintain a proud record when Zebre come to Scotstoun
this Friday night.

“It’s usually
quite an open game against the Italian teams – they both like to play a bit of
rugby, as do we,” Horne told glasgowwarriors.org.

“That suits
us perfectly, because we’ve got a lot of attacking threats across the pitch in
both the forwards and the backs.

“If those
guys are making line breaks, then it makes my job that bit easier to track on
the inside!”

Indeed,
Horne has already expressed himself with aplomb against Zebre this season. A
two-try, man-of-the-match showing in Parma back in November helped the Warriors
to a 31-7 win over Friday’s opponents, yet the former Howe of Fife man is
taking nothing for granted ahead of the club’s return to Guinness PRO14 action.

“It’s always
tough against Zebre, as it is against Benetton,” said Horne.

“They’re teams
that have big, physical packs and try to beat you up front. We were coming off
a few below-par games in terms of our performances when we went over there
earlier in the season, so we wanted to assert ourselves on the game.

“We played
fast and we put a lot of phases together, which is always hard to defend
against. From those phases we made line breaks, and we were pretty clinical in
finishing them off.

The Warriors
currently sit fourth in Conference A heading into the second half of the
season, battling with Leinster, Ulster and the Cheetahs for one of the three
spots in the 2019/20 Guinness PRO14 Final Series.

“We had a
meeting after the second Edinburgh match [in December] and had a look at the
conference table – we know we’ve got a bit of work to do to overhaul the teams
in front of us,” said Horne.

“Every game
now is a must-win. We can’t afford to slip up anywhere, because Ulster and
Leinster won’t be losing many games between now and the end of the season.

“We’ve got
to be clinical and we’ve got to go out and win every time we have the chance.”

That pursuit
of a place in the Final Series continues under the Friday night lights at
Scotstoun, an occasion that the younger Horne brother is keenly anticipating.
After re-joining Dave Rennie’s squad during a fallow week in the Guinness Six
Nations, the scrum-half is ready to make an impact if called upon for another
Italian job.

“I’m
absolutely buzzing for the match,” said Horne.

“Scotstoun
is a great place to play. The fans always come out and support us in numbers,
and the noise they make is unbelievable. On a Friday night, too, the atmosphere
is just that little bit more special.

“I can’t
wait to hopefully get out there.”