Mack Hansen caused quite the stir on Saturday afternoon when he lashed out at the quality of refereeing Connacht received in the URC following their 20-12 loss to Leinster.
The Connacht winger was speaking at the post-match press conference when he interjected on a question about Jordie Barrett's ruck clearout that caught Bundee Aki in the head.
Aki himself had been attempting a counter ruck when Leinster's Kiwi signing attempted a clear out that ended in him clattering Aki's head with his shoulder. Unlike an earlier similar incident involving Leinster's Gus McCarthy, Barrett's hit on Aki wasn't highlighted by the TMO for a review.
Got to say I get Mack Hansens frustration at Connacht not getting calls. Link for the interview below. Dirty little clean out here with the ref staring right at it and it doesn’t get picked up by the TMO despite the replay. https://t.co/d5RXHS013J pic.twitter.com/XRqkA7Qeh8
— Jim Demps (@jim_demps) December 21, 2024
While the world of rugby were divided on whether it was a 'rugby collision' or deserving of a TMO review, to Hansen it was just another example of the calls his team don't get week in, week out.
'We never get any calls. Ever. I've been feeling this for years now. Like checking the Gus McCarthy one, how much? How much did they check that? Ten or eleven times? Bundee gets a direct hit to the head. It's quite obvious. No call. We get that every time. You can hear the frustration in my voice. It's starting to get to the point where honestly, it's bullshit. It's starting to get really frustrating for us.
We're not a team for excuses, but it felt like we were getting pressure from sixteen men instead of fifteen" Hansen added.
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Pete Wilkins stands by Mack Hansen following controversial comments
Despite the now rampant speculation over whether Hansen will receive a fine or possible sideline ban for his words, Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins has stood by his winger, telling the media that Hansen spoke honestly about his on-field experience.
Where Mack was coming from the other evening was how that feels as a player on the field in terms of momentum flow of decision or absence of decisions at times. So he spoke honestly about what it feels like when you are in that arena.
Mack’s comments were more about looking for inconsistency in reactions to moments in the game. That’s where his frustration came from. There are always conversations after the event. But his frustrations were borne of a feeling of inconsistency
Wilkins however, did add that the URC's processes for addressing referee feedback work well and that all coaches feel aggrieved by decision making after they lose.
I think every coaching room feels that they are hard done by, especially when they lose, that’s why we have that process there with the URC referees in order to send feedback, we send clips and we send comments. The referee responds and Tappa Henning, the refereeing boss of the URC responds so I don’t think we’re any different to anyone else in that sense.
For me, all I can do is go through the channels which are available to me which is to provide that feedback which we’re in the process of doing from the weekend.
While confirming that Connacht had no wish to get any of Leinster's players in trouble, Wilkins did confirm that the Barrett/Aki hit would form part of Connacht's feedback for the referee and reiterated that the feedback would be aimed at the whole refereeing team including the TMO, not just the man in the middle Chris Busby.
