It was the year – and the game – in which Horne made his debut.

The Waratahs also beat South African conference leaders the Sharks twice in the 2008 season, once in the regular rounds and again in the semi-finals.

So if ever NSW fans needed an omen, Michael Cheika's left-field selection call to start the Test-capped centre on the right wing this weekend could be it.

Not that Horne is entertaining such notions. He and the other Waratahs backs wasted no time adjusting to life without Israel Folau, training as if their season depended on it earlier this week before flying into Sharks territory on Wednesday.

"The Sharks are probably the form South African team, I personally feel, so heading over there and playing them at home is going to be a huge occasion for us as a group," Horne said.

"We're under no illusions about how good a side we're coming up against and we're going to have to be on and all play to the best of our ability and then see what happens."

It is Horne's first start this season. After a career spent largely at outside-centre –  save for his 2008 debut against the Brumbies – attack coach Daryl Gibson engineered the 24-year-old's move inside to No.12 last year.

Horne made the switch with aplomb, and his flexibility has given Cheika confidence this week's foray into the realm of outside-backs will yield similar results.

His direct, hard-running game will certainly come in handy when the Waratahs find space out wide in Durban this weekend.

"It's a bit of a change but I'm excited. Obviously the coach sees something there and I look forward to getting out there and doing it," Horne said.

"You prepare every game accordingly depending on what position you play. You have to get your head around your timings and what-not, and around the set-piece for your primary position and then a position you might move to.

"But it's my first start this year so I'm ready to hit the ground running."

The Sharks boast impressive credentials out wide, including wingers J.P. Pietersen and Lwazi Mvovo, and fullback S.P. Marais.

Horne's defensive toughness will stand him in good stead, but it will be the team's overall cohesiveness and appetite for contact that will win the battle on that front.

"Watching that Sharks-Bulls game last week the physicality was huge and they have some really big, dynamic runners and some very talented backs as well," he said.

"It's definitely going to be a bit of a battle of physicality – that's what they pride themselves on – so it's going to be a pretty huge challenge for us."

Horne signed a one-year extension with the Waratahs last year, but said he was not thinking about his next move yet.

Life in a back line boasting names such as Folau, Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper can be an uncertain prospect.

But the 15-Test Wallaby has no issue with competition.

"That's the way you want a squad to be, you've seen that competition in everything we do," Horne said.

"Today's training was full of little competitions and I guess it's a progression from that. We're lucky to have the quality players we have but that's on paper.

"It doesn't mean a thing unless you go out there and produce."

Meanwhile, NSW five-eighth Bernard Foley said the loss of Sharks playmaker Patrick Lambie was a telling blow for the competition leaders.

"He's pretty key to their game, structurally he controls it," Foley said.

"He's a very good kicker and along with Francois [Steyn, at inside-centre] they probably dominate territory then play their game off the back of that.

"Losing someone that's been your No.10 for the last three years and having someone new come in, hopefully it disrupts them."

Foley and Beale have been handed an ally in the battle for territory in new fullback Jono Lance this weekend. While Cheika maintains the Waratahs will mix up their exit strategies with a variety of running and kicking, Lance's skills with the boot give the side a traditional option should they need it.

"It's been a bit of a downside in our game so far ... exiting has hurt us a bit, trying to get out of our own half, especially [off the restarts]," Foley said.

"We've got to think of ways to exit differently and if we have to run or use other kickers, we'll wait and see."