Rugby World Cup 2015: 100 moments - Tim Horan

With 100 days to go until the start of the Rugby World Cup, we take a look at one of the tournaments greatest players

Daniel Herbert and Tim Horan (right) following the 1999 Rugby World Cup victory (Getty Images)

Tim Horan, Australia. World Cups Played In – 1991, 1995, 1999.

Horan is the first of a very select group of players. Those who have played in three World Cup competitions and have won it twice. An inside centre by trade, he experimented at fly half in 1996, under the late Greg Smith, earning eighty caps and scoring 140 points for Australia.

He scored forty tries in total, including a magnificent score against New Zealand in the 1991 semi-final where he received a no-look pass from David Campese to score in the corner. That game finished 11-0 to the Wallabies, leading them to a final against England.

Most of Horan’s worth came from his running lines and his ability to offload to his supporting players, the greatest recipient being Campese, who received no end of final passes to allow him to score six tries and pick up Player of the Tournament in 1991. More on Campese soon, for there is much more to say on Horan.

The tournament between his two medal wins in 1995 came too soon for Horan, as a horrendous knee injury kept him out for most of the previous year. Aside from his dip in form, Australia found it harder this time around and bowed out in the quarter finals against England. His final tournament came in 1999, where he almost missed the final due to food poisoning the night before. (See, New Zealand? You can play well with food poisoning.)

He left the tournament with a winner’s medal and the title of Player of the Tournament. Watch out for him in the video, the big 12 is always up to something clever.