Today's announcement that Mack Hansen will be out for up to 3-4 months is a sizeable blow to Ireland's hopes of back-to-back Six Nations titles, and an even bigger kick in the teeth to Connacht, who rely so heavily on the world class Aussie.
However, where a few doors may shut, another may open, or so the former head coach of the Ireland women's team, Greg McWilliams, seems to think.
Earlier he asked on Twitter, "With Mack’s injury timeline, does he make a switch for the Olympics? 4 months of recovery - integration into the 7s program. Ready to fire in May".
Could Mack Hansen Make The Switch To Ireland Sevens?
In case any readers may have forgotten, the IRFU's Director of Rugby David Nucifora revealed that the IRFU will be working with the provinces to integrate XVs players into the sevens programme for the Olympics.
"With regards to the Men’s Sevens, we’ve reached an agreement with the provinces that we will have the ability to select one contracted player from each province for the Olympics," Nucifora stated back in December.
READ HERE: Connacht Have Questions Over Incident That Led To Mack Hansen Injury
READ HERE: Picking An Ireland 7s Team For The Olympics From 15-A-Side Players
That will be done in agreement with the player.
More than likely that player will be a player that has come through the Sevens programme at some stage, so they’re familiar with the game..
With Mack’s injury timeline, does he make a switch for the Olympics?
4 months of recovery - integration into the 7s program.
Ready to fire in May ☘️ #askX
— Greg McWilliams (@GregMcWilliams1) January 8, 2024
Hansen has not come through the sevens programme, but in a recent interview with Jim Hamilton, he expressed interest in making the Olympic squad.
"I'd do it. I'd give it a go, so I can get the [Olympic] rings tattooed on the body somewhere. It's a good conversation starter having the rings on you," Hansen said on the Big Jim Show.
"I never played sevens. Those lads are shredded. I am not shredded at the moment. I have a bit of a pudgy gut at the moment.
"It's the way forward. Seeing such high profile people like Dupont, literally the best player in the world, you could say, going and giving it a crack is going to be monumental for the Sevens game.
"I think a lot of people are going to follow suit from here on out. It's cool. How many times do we get opportunities to play in an Olympics? That's just going to grow the game in general. If Sevens is booming, then 15s has to follow suit, I find."
Hansen Schedule Could World Out For Ireland Olympic Dream
Without having the distraction of Connacht's URC and Champions Cup fixtures for the next few months, Hansen could potentially take time to learn the sevens game during his time off from XVs.
Nucifora also explained how the IRFU would work with the provinces to integrate players without affecting their domestic 'requirements', and suggested that they could play a World Series tournament, return to their province for the end of the season, before coming back to the sevens.
"The lead-in time would look at how it affects and works in with their provincial requirements at the moment so it might be that a player might come and play a tournament, one of the World Series tournaments prior to the end and then go back into provincial rugby, then come back again.
"It will just be a management scenario of how we look at each player and each provincial team, how we might do that."
Hansen could return from injury in time for the Singapore leg of the World Series, which takes place from the 3-5 May. This also happens to be Champions Cup semi-final weekend, with Connacht highly unlikely to be involved.
We can confirm Mack Hansen will unfortunately have shoulder surgery today and is expected to be unavailable for 3-4 months.
A tough blow for him at this time of the season. All the best in your recovery Mack 💚
Full squad update: https://t.co/3omKRThae3#ConnachtRugby pic.twitter.com/8WsdZqLER2
— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) January 8, 2024
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