Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins says the province are yet to find out whether or not Mack Hansen will be sanctioned for his comments on the officiating in Saturday’s 20-12 defeat to Leinster.
The Ireland international’s comments have dominated the fallout from the derby at Aviva Stadium, with Hansen saying he and his team-mates have become fed up with the trend of officiating they believe they have been on the end of this season, describing it as “bull***t”.
“Like, I feel like we get this every week. We never get any calls, ever. I’ve been feeling this for years now,” Hansen said in the immediate aftermath of the game on Saturday night.
While Wilkins has been more reserved in his public assessment of the officiating, he has backed Hansen for relaying how the players are feeling on the pitch during games.
Given the nature of Hansen’s comments, it is likely that he and the province will be spoken to by the league, but as of late Monday morning, Wilkins said there hadn’t been any official communication about disciplinary action.
“If something comes down the line later in the week, we’ll wait and see. So I’m not sure at this point,” Wilkins said.
However, the Connacht coach (below) revealed he has been in contact with the URC’s refereeing chief Tappe Henning, where he discussed incidents from Saturday’s game against Leinster, as well as Hansen’s comments on the performance of referee Chris Busby.
“We’ve got a really constructive relationship with Tappe in terms of talking about ourselves and talking about referees and the game in general. So, you know, I spoke to Tappe then to let him know that the press conference had taken place and some of the comments.
“We also talked about the game and different elements of the game that will remain between us. So, you know, what happens after that I don’t know. But the important thing is that we’ve got those communication channels open, and we’ll see.
“I contacted him to make sure that we were talking, because, obviously, I knew that there would be a reaction in the media from the press conference. So I wanted to make sure that Tappe was aware that I knew there’d probably be a response, and there’d be questions asked both sides.”
The Connacht head coach also suggested that Hansen’s comments should be viewed in the context of how the players are feeling in the moment, rather than an isolated assessment of their referee, Busby, on the night.
“So for Mack, I think what was really important with what he said to highlight is he was talking about how it feels as a player on the field in games like that. He wasn’t saying Chris Busby is a poor referee or the TMO doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s saying this is what it feels like to us.
“And, you know, we can’t really question how he feels in that moment and the intensity of that moment. And the great thing about Mack and why we love him is that he speaks from the heart and he plays from the heart, and you get that sort of honesty.
“That’s the man himself, and, you know, we’re grateful for that. And, you know at this point, we won’t be asking him to change too much,” he added.
The province are expecting to be without Josh Ioane for this Saturday’s derby with Ulster at Dexcom Stadium, after the out-half suffered a concussion during the first half of Saturday’s defeat in Dublin.
In better news, Wilkins revealed that JJ Hanrahan is set to make a significant step up in his rehab from an ACL injury this week, with a view to returning to action in the second half of January.
“JJ Hanrahan’s returning to integrated training with the rest of this week, which is obviously a massive moment for him,” he said of Hanrahan, who injured his ACL in late April.
“He won’t be available [for selection] yet. We’re still tracking towards mid to late January, and obviously depending how the fixtures fall, is whether we use him for that break or not.
“But he’s on track and back during this week, which is brilliant news.”
