Super Rugby 2015: James Horwill quits Queensland Reds to play for Harlequins
THE Queensland Reds are coming to terms with the news that figurehead James Horwill will leave after the 2015 Super Rugby campaign.
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THE Queensland Reds are coming to terms with the news that figurehead James Horwill will leave after the 2015 Super Rugby campaign.
Queensland captain Horwill today announced his plans to quit Super Rugby to take up a post World Cup deal with Harlequins.
Horwill, 29, has been a pillar of the Reds pack for almost a decade.
He steered the side out of the cellar and was the inspiring figure who led Queensland to the 2011 title.
But recent seasons have brought new challenges in the shape of knee and hamstring injuries, and last year’s loss of the Test captaincy.
The 107-game stalwart said last year he would never play for another Australian side, so continuing his career with a new challenge in European rugby has a definite allure for him.
His mother Jenny grew up just a few torpedo punts from Twickenham, so the appeal of playing for a London club would seem an ideal fit.
Horwill channels such emotion into leadership and the duties attached to it that, at times last year, it did seem to take a toll.
He first captained the Reds in 2008, so his tenure is unmatched at the Reds since halfback Peter Slattery's trophy reign as Queensland skipper in the mid-1990s before the game turned professional.
There is an undoubted mood of change at the Reds, with quality backline recruits Karmichael Hunt and James O'Connor adding potency to the attack and former All Black flanker Adam Thomson and Japanese Test backrower Hendrik Tui stiffening the pack.
The change-up has been off-field as well with the Reds donning fatigues for three days this week to push their limits in a gut-busting camp under military direction at the Enoggera Army Barracks in Brisbane. Hunt, Liam Gill and co don't ever want to see another 20kg jerry can, a dead weight humped through exercises. Conquering an obstacle course over water, the rock climbing, stretcher-bearing and the taxing physical load was only part of it.
“Leadership and teamwork were two of the objectives and not many do it better than the army,” Reds coach Richard Graham said.
“The guys were really pushed physically and under that stress in a non-traditional environment they had to make decisions, so their mental resolve was tested as well.
“I can't speak more positively about the army and the players putting in. Listening to instruction and being able to come up with strategies under pressure was terrific because there are applications to playing obviously.”
The Reds play their first trial against the Melbourne Rebels in Cairns on January 31.
Originally published as Super Rugby 2015: James Horwill quits Queensland Reds to play for Harlequins
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