Horn proud despite Lions’ Challenge Cup exit

On Jan 19, 2026

Francke Horn praised the Lions’ character and set-piece dominance in brutal conditions in Perpignan on Saturday night.

The 20-20 draw at the Stade Aimé Giral was not enough to take the Lions into the EPCR Challenge Cup round of 16, with Perpignan advancing on points difference. Yet for Horn, the performance said plenty about where his side is heading.

“As captain I feel we played really well considering the conditions,” Horn said. “We had to change the way we normally play at home because of how bad the rain and wind were, and how wet it was out there. It required us to play differently.”

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That adjustment was evident throughout a bruising contest. The Lions leaned heavily on territory, kicking discipline and forward power, rather than the expansive style that has defined much of their season at Ellis Park.

“We had to kick more and rely more on the set-piece,” Horn explained. “I thought we were exceptional in that department. We earned a lot of scrum penalties and got two tries from mauls that kept us in the game.”

Those maul scores, along with flyhalf Chris Smith’s accuracy from the tee, allowed the Lions to build a 10-point lead in the second half before Perpignan clawed their way back.

“The positive outlook is that we showed our pack is good enough to handle those conditions and dominate the set-piece,” said Horn. “We also have No 9s and No 10s who can put us into the right areas of the field and on defence we can put teams under pressure.”

The Lions were forced to defend for long periods late on as Perpignan pushed for a decisive score. Horn acknowledged that fine margins played their part.

“We played until the final whistle and maybe there were one or two calls that could have gone our way in the end, and in the last phase in terms of penalties in front of the poles,” he said.

“Besides that, the character and the adaptation shown really impressed me and regardless of those circumstances to still play really good rugby on top of all that.”

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The Lions now turn their focus back to the Vodacom URC where their European tour continues in Swansea with a clash against the Ospreys.