Neath Rugby announced today that Head Coach Patrick Horgan has left the club.

A tremendous servant to the club, Horgan has been at Neath as a player or coach for 17 years (apart from a couple of spells at Llanelli and Ebbw Vale).

Although normally a scrum half, I was reminded today of a season he played for us in 2000/01 at outside half.  Due to injury and loss of form our other No 10s, Pat was pressed into emergency duty at fly half and despite carrying a knee injury throughout the season he did a magnificent job, culminating in an appearance in the Welsh Cup Final against Newport.

The same grit and never say die attitude he displayed as a player was also to the fore as a coach, especially during our problems over the last few years.

This season has seen Pat having to trawl the local clubs on an almost weekly basis to secure enough permit players to enable us to put a team out on a Saturday.  His eye for spotting young players has seen the club unearth some real talents, such as Steffan Jones.

So, good luck Pat and thanks for everything you’ve done for Neath RFC

Let us know what you think of Pat leaving or who you would like to see replace him by leaving a comment below