Horwill out for nine months

[Burgs]

Knee surgery rules Queensland Reds captain James Horwill out for season

By Jim Morton
February 20, 2010.

Queensland Reds are looking for a new skipper and Wallabies coach Robbie Deans a new enforcer after a shattered James Horwill was ruled out for nine months.

The abrasive 115kg lock badly ruptured his knee in the Reds' stirring 41-20 upset of the Crusaders and will require season-ending surgery.

Any pleasure coach Ewen McKenzie derived from his young team being unexpected Super 14 pace-setters after their round-two Suncorp Stadium win was drained away by the devastating loss.

Horwill is their most influential and damaging forward and has proven to be a quality leader since taking over the captaincy at 22 in 2008.

The 24-Test backrower will also miss the Tri Nations, and most probably Australia's end-of-season tour to Europe in November.

The only upside from the injury, sustained midway through the second half and likened to that which sidelined Tim Horan for much of 1994-95, is that the long term prognosis is for a complete recovery well in time for the 2011 World Cup.

"It's an injury that Kevvie (Horwill) will fully recover from, although it will take time," McKenzie said.

"While the rehabilitation period is a long one, the knee will be as good as new when he returns."

Horwill was unprepared to comment after being told the results of scans on Saturday, wanting to speak to renowned knee surgeon Peter Myers about the full detail first.

Vice-captain Will Genia looms as Horwill's replacement as skipper while Van Humphries is expected to return from a head knock to take his place in the second row against the Blues at Ballymore.

Halfback Genia was again outstanding in the four-tries-to-two triumph over the Crusaders while maturing five-eighth Quade Cooper produced his best game for the Reds with two tries in a record 31-point haul.

The mercurial Cooper, who is undergoing a personal development and counselling program after being charged with burglary in December, outshone a harassed Dan Carter and rated it among the best victories he'd been involved with.

Horwill's injury also opens the door for Wallabies and Western Force veteran Nathan Sharpe to storm back into Test contention after missing 2009's Grand Slam tour.

AAP

[James]

Thats a shame for both the Reds and the Wallabies. That was an awesome win for the Reds though.

[jono]

i've gotta admit i am pretty gutted about this.
thats a devestating loss to the reds. horwill opitomises the attitudes of the reds. he will not ever give up or stop giving everything he has to a game. hopefully they dont fall down now, they are playing some seriously good rugby at the moment.
all the best in your recovery james.

[TOCC]

yeah real shame, however at least Van 'benjamin button' humphries is back next week, and replacement lock Rob Simmons showed some glimpses of what his capable of.

Will Genia has been confirmed as the new captain, his the youngest QLD captain in 20 years or so apparently

[jono]

they didnt really have anyone else though...
he'll go ok though. seems to have his head on his shoulders allright

[tragic]

Bad news for the Reds, bad news for the Wallabies. I hope Horwill comes out of this 100% as expected.

Knees suck

[Burgs]

Knees suck

I hear yah

[GIGS20]

Tough break for Kevvie......Australian rugby is a lot weaker without him.

I was interested in this snippet

Horwill's injury also opens the door for Wallabies and Western Force veteran Nathan Sharpe to storm back into Test contention after missing 2009's Grand Slam tour.

AAP

Sharpie was the number one picked lock last year, only failing to tour because of shoulder surgery...... Even Kev was behind him.....now we get Sharpie back and lose Kev, there's not much joy in being an Aussie lock right now.

Perhaps (looking around the stocks) this will open a door for one of the Force's stable of youngsters!

[Burgs]

Speaking of which Gigs, I thought Jones at least didn't look out of place yesterday, could be good things ahead there.
Big Tom is back in his groove too.

[GIGS20]

Yeah I didn't think there was enough time to judge Jones very well........I guess he didn't stink the whole thing up so bad he'll never be picked again!

All the kids did well considering!

[jargan83]

Bad luck to Horwill, any injury that keeps you out of the game for an extended period of time sucks

[TOCC]

they didnt really have anyone else though...
he'll go ok though. seems to have his head on his shoulders allright

Braid, Hardman, Daley, Turinui, Hynes are all blokes who have the experience or have been identified as leadership material

[mudskipper]

Horrendous news, I wish him a swift recovery hopefully we may see him on the 2010 spring tour (perhaps)?

[TOCC]

Horrendous news, I wish him a swift recovery hopefully we may see him on the 2010 spring tour (perhaps)?

unlikely, 2011 Super15 season is probably the next time we will see Horwill playing

[mudskipper]

Thats the worst thing about the sport these long injury periods for players. I wish him the best... I hope he is studying or something to make best use of his time...