Mack Hansen referee course is 'a work in progress' heading into the Six Nations

WORK IN PROGRESS: Connacht’s Mack Hansen compulsory course on match officiating is a work in progress as he heads into his fourth Six Nations campaign, according to his Connacht coach Pete Wilkins. Picture: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Mack Hansen’s compulsory course on match officiating is a work in progress as he heads into his fourth Six Nations campaign, according to his Connacht coach Pete Wilkins.

Hansen’s three-match ban for his criticism of match officials following last month’s outburst after they lost to Leinster in the Aviva Stadium will end on Friday when Connacht travel to URC champions Glasgow Warriors.

Hansen, of course, will be in Irish camp in Portugal and will have to deal with the media training class which he will have to present to his Connacht teammates when he returns from Six Nations duty.

Connacht were hit with a suspended fine of €10,000 by URC disciplinary chiefs and Hansen was order to participate in ‘an appropriate course (related to match officiating) as decided by Tappe Henning (URC head of match officials) and Dudley Phillips (IRFU head of referees) with the learnings to be disseminated with his team-mates at Connacht.’ “It's a work in progress at this stage,” said Wilkins at Connacht’s weekly press conference this Monday. 

“The URC has sent through some suggestions, I suppose, as to what that education piece might look like. That's being handled by the club and Mack's now away in camp, so he won't be able to finish all of that immediately.

“There'll be bits of it that he can do whilst he's away and bits of it that he may have to pause till he gets back. So they're still finalising exactly what that education piece looks like, and then we'll be able to put a plan in place when he can complete it.” 

Hansen has been a breath of fresh air since his fellow Canberra native Andy Friend brought him to the Sportsground at the start of the 2021/22 and he was an Irish international by the following February.

Hansen has never been shy speaking his mind and at a time when so many players and coaches dish the usual string of cliches, the Australian is much more exuberant and Wilkins does not expect that to be dampened by the disciplinary process and he will retain his personality.

“Oh, yeah, 100%, yeah. Just a little wiser, I'd say,” added Wilkins.

He has guided Connacht into the knockout stages of the Challenge Cup after picking up maximum points in their pool with home games guaranteed all the way to the final, there is a lot to look forward to.

But he hasn’t given up on their URC hopes yet despite sitting in 13th place with six losses in their nine games. They head to Glasgow without their record seven players in the extended Irish Six Nations squad, but the champions have 15 in the Scottish squad.

Connacht will have lock Oisin Dowling back and are hoping experienced loosehead Denis Buckley will recover fully from a dead leg, but Hugh Gavin, Darragh Murray, Sean O’Brien, John Porch, Andrew Smith and Shayne Bolton are out through injury.