Mack Hansen has been served a three-game suspension and ordered to both apologise to referee Chris Busby and undertake a course on refereeing after comments he made following Connacht's loss to Leinster last year.
Hansen made comments criticising the standard of officiating Connacht are often subject to and insinuated they'd been playing against 16 men last December when Connacht fell to Leinster in the Aviva Stadium - a game in which Chris Busby's failure to review a potential head contact between Jordie Barrett and Bundee Aki caused frustrations among both players and fans.
While Hansen's ban initially started at six weeks, the independent disciplinary panel suspended three of those, meaning the wing will be available just in time for Ireland's Six Nations opener versus England on February 1st.
His loss will however come as a crushing blow to Pete Wilkins who will now be without one of his best players for Connacht's upcoming Challenge Cup games with Lyon and Cardiff as well as a URC clash with Glasgow. Hansen will then almost certainly be selected by Simon Easterby for international duty which will see him absent from the West for the best part of two months.
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21 December 2024; Mack Hansen of Connacht during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Connacht at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Joe Marler goes to bat for suspended Mack Hansen
Much like Hansen's comments last month, Thursday's suspension has split the world of rugby down the middle, with many feeling that Hansen's punishment fell on the harsh side and that the nuances of what he now has to undertake were unnecessary.
Among those to go to bat for the Irish winger was retired England legend Joe Marler.
Marler who is often outspoken and well-known for his hot takes took to social media where he replied to news of Hansen's suspension with a simple but clear statement.
Utter bollocks.
Utter bollocks. https://t.co/mxmUrP5ari
— Joe Marler (@JoeMarler) January 9, 2025
Marler isn't the only former professional to weigh in on the discussion either, with Rob Kearney revealing he felt the ban was potentially harsh and cautioned against 'putting a muzzle on players', although the former Ireland fullback did acknowledge that while officiating needs to get better, the values of the game and referees needed to be protected so there was still a game in the future.
There are also reports circulating that December's incident has played a role in Chris Busby's reported shock retirement. While it is believed that personal factors were at the fore of Busby's decision, the Hansen incident as well as online abuse of the referee and his family are said to have had an influence.
After the independent disciplinary panel handed down their suspension on Thursday morning, Mack Hansen released a statement apologising to the officials, and claiming his emotions got the better of him.
He will now have to serve his three-game suspension and undertake a refereeing course after which he'll be required to disseminate the learnings with his teammates. Connacht have also been handed a suspended fine of €10,000.
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