hahaha, I broke mine in exactly the same place, doing exactly the same thing! Ended up replacing it with one I found in excellent condition on a clunkered XJ my next trip to the junkyard. I'd really like to have a word with whoever decided that containing 210-degree antifreeze with 1/16" of injection-molded glassified polyester was a good plan, mine was so weak that I could crumble the plastic with my fingertips after I got what was left of it out of the hose. The easy way to tell if one at the JY is ok is to remove the hoses from the engine side of it and see if it's still pure black - if it's crackle-finish and turning greenish or brownish and translucent looking, find another one.
EDIT: wow, you AND crimzon both have a 96, so do I. We should start "club 1996 broken heater control valve" or something