Connacht and Ireland wing Mack Hansen has received a six-week ban, three of which are suspended, after an independent disciplinary panel upheld a charge of misconduct in relation to comments he made about referees. In addition, Connacht were given a suspended €10,000 fine related to Hansen’s sanction and the player will have to undertake “an appropriate course” related to match officiating.
He will miss the province’s upcoming Challenge Cup pool games against Lyon and Cardiff and also a URC clash with Glasgow Warriors but will be eligible for Ireland’s opening match in the Six Nations Championship against England at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, February 1st.
The 26-year-old was charged with misconduct in breach of disciplinary rules governing the URC tournament following comments he made after Connacht’s defeat to Leinster suggesting his province had been on the rough end of officiating “week after week”. The URC statement said that “those comments included significant criticism of the referee officiating at that match”.
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The player publicly apologised. His statement read: “People know I always wear my heart on my sleeve. However, after the Leinster game, on this occasion, I let my emotions get the better of me. Upon reflection, my comments to the media were ill-advised, and fell far short of the standards I expect of myself, and what the sport expects of its players.
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“I want to offer an apology to the match officials for any distress my comments may have caused. Our games are built on mutual respect, and I didn’t show that after the game. I also want to apologise to the URC, and I fully accept the findings of the independent disciplinary panel.
“I love Connacht, and I love rugby. Moving forward, I will channel all my energy and passion into representing my province and country to the absolute best of my ability – both on and off the field.”
The nuts and bolts of the disciplinary sanctions pointed to the fact that the player was charged with misconduct in breach of nine clauses of the disciplinary rules.
The disciplinary panel consisted of Roger Morris (chair, Wales), Nigel Williams (Wales) and Stefan Terblanche (South Africa) who according to the official URC communique “considered that attaching a learning process would have a more positive outcome rather than merely applying a playing sanction”.
In addition to the ban, Hansen must apologise to referee Chris Busby, who presided over the relevant Leinster-Connacht game.
He must undertake “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”.
Connacht Rugby must run an education session with their players about how to conduct themselves in post-match media sessions and interactions with the media.
The disciplinary panel decided upon a €10,000 suspended fine to Connacht for “failing to exercise control over their personnel in this incident”. This period of suspension shall run until the end of the 2024/25 season. No other sanction will be applied unless there is a further breach during this time.
Hansen will miss the following games:
January 11th: v Lyon Rugby (EPCR Challenge Cup)
January 17th: v Cardiff Rugby (EPCR Challenge Cup)
January 24th: v Glasgow Warriors (BKT United Rugby Championship)
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