Horne frustrated at Waratahs' bye-week
Rob Horne is probably the only Waratah less than thrilled by his injury hit team's timely bye prior to a potential Super 14 rugby blockbuster against the Brumbies on Saturday week.
Wallabies front rowers Benn Robinson (forearm) and Tatafu Polota-Nau (shoulder) are desperately battling the clock to be fit for the April 24 ANZ Stadium clash and wouldn't have been fit if NSW had a fixture this weekend.
While acknowledging the timeliness of the bye from a team perspective, 20-year-old outside centre Horne is slightly frustrated on a personal level.
Sidelined by a series of hamstring injuries over the past 18 months, Horne was relishing a continual run of games.
After being eased back through four games on the bench, Horne has started the Waratahs last three matches.
"I was finding a bit of match fitness last week and now we've got the bye, so it hasn't worked out too well," Horne told AAP.
"But in a team sense the bye has probably come at a good time for us. We've got a few injuries, I think it will refresh us."
Renowned for his speed in attack and strength in defence, Horne quickly generated a buzz after being given his break in 2008 by then Waratah's coach Ewen McKenzie.
Earmarked for big things since making his Super debut as an 18-year-old, Horne was named on the Wallabies 2009 Spring tour, but another hamstring niggle forced him to return home without playing a Test.
NSW coach Chris Hickey adopted a slowly-slowly attitude with Horne this year, drip feeding him game time before promoting him to the starting lineup for the round seven clash with the Blues.
"I am only 20-years-old, so I would like to think I will be in the game a fair while and not rushing it is a big thing. Earlier we tried to rush with a few of them and that obviously resulted in re-injuring," Horne said.
The Australian Sevens and under 20 representative isn't focussing on returning to the Wallabies fold in the short term, even though next week's match will give him the chance to impress against either Stirling Mortlock or Adam Ashley-Cooper.
"This season for me is just about playing consistently and as a team too, that's what we are striving to do each week," Horne said.
He finished off arguably the best Super team try of the season against the Crusaders last week, when he crossed after almost 30 phases.
"It was very controlled and being in the backs and probably 25 of those phases were in the forwards, you were always itching a bit to get your hands on the ball," Horne said.
"That play in itself is a bit of a symbol of how we like to play, we like to build pressure."
Horne was adamant playing the Brumbies at ANZ Stadium rather than the Waratahs regular home, the Sydney Football Stadium would not disadvantage NSW.
"I'd like to think we will get a big crowd out there, it's a massive game in the context of our season, especially going into these last four rounds coming off the bye."
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