Lions young stars recommit to keep the dream alive

The dream of building something epic at the Emirates Lions has been the main reason why so many of the young stars have decided to stay at the franchise.

That’s the view of Francke Horn, who this week extended his contract with the franchise for another three years.

Horn may be the current captain of the side, sharing the responsibilities with Marius Louw, but the decision to stay in Johannesburg is seen as a coup with a number of clubs trying to poach the Lions’ stars.

Horn isn’t the only one - just this past week tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye rejected an offer from French giants Toulouse to stay in Johannesburg while SA A midfielder Henco van Wyk also put pen to paper for another three years.

And it isn’t just the stars that are staying. This past week young players SJ Kotze and RF Schoeman also put their signatures on paper to stay at the Lions. The retention of the promising young hooker and prop is seen as a massive plus for the Lions.

Of course, there are always those who may not stay, and the recent departure of Sanele Nohamba has been seen as a loss for the union, while Springbok winger Edwill van der Merwe is being heavily courted by other clubs.

But Horn says it wasn’t even a consideration, and he wants to fulfill the dream he and his teammates committed to when he started playing senior rugby.

“The type of rugby that we are playing is part of it. When I got to the Lions we set a goal and we as a squad have not quite got there. We have made a lot of strides but with inconsistency we haven’t got to where we want to be. As you’ve seen there are a few other players who have re-signed, so there is definitely something that we are building,” Horn said on Tuesday.

“For the next three years that I’m here, I’m committed to building the dream with them and doing whatever I can to help. But the big reason is that I’m enjoying my rugby at the moment. We’ve got a good group of guys and we work well with the coaches, so to me it is an exciting three years that lies ahead and I can’t wait to see what is coming up.”

Horn said it was exciting to see he isn’t alone in re-signing at the Lions.

“It is very exciting to see all the guys re-signing. We set that goal for ourselves and if it is not this year, it is in the next year or two that we want to achieve it. That is why we want to stay, we want to make a difference. We want to take the union forward. Like I mentioned, we are a lekker group of guys who are enjoying the way we play.

“Obviously we want to get better results and we need to be better in some aspects of the game, but that is something we can work on.”

Hailing from Paarl Boys High School, Horn has watched as two former school stars of his alma mater have become Springboks in Cameron Hanekom and Evan Roos, while he has been ignored thus far.

But he knows if the team gets the results, his time will come and that’s why all the effort needs to go into making the Lions great again.

“In my position I try to do the best that I can, whether that is to help score tries or assist others, or even keep my head down and work. That is the only thing I can control, the rest is there, and the dream is there, but to make it a reality, I need to work harder and be better for the team.

“If we start winning derbies and we start getting momentum, then players will get recognised.

“So we need to stick together and get the victories and then the players will get their opportunities somewhere down the line.”