Mack Hansen banned for ref blast but free to play in Six Nations

Mack Hansen will be available for the start of Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations title defence after a disciplinary hearing suspended three of the six-week ban handed down on Thursday for misconduct.

The Connacht winger got himself in trouble last month for his post-game comments criticising the officials following a United Rugby Championship defeat to Leinster at Aviva Stadium.

However, fears that he would be unavailable for the February 1 start of the Six Nations against England in Dublin were alleviated by Thursday morning’s verdict, Hansen learning that his six-week suspension had been halved. This will clear him to be involved from the start of the championship after missing all three of Connacht’s January matches.

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A statement read: “Mack Hansen of Connacht has received a six-week ban (with three of those weeks suspended) after an independent disciplinary panel upheld a charge of misconduct against the player. Additionally, Connacht have received a suspended €10,000 fine related to the player’s sanction.

“Hansen was charged with misconduct in breach of clause 3.2 of the disciplinary rules of the BKT United Rugby Championship after comments made about the match officiating of the round eight Leinster versus Connacht game on December 21. Those comments included significant criticism of the referee officiating at that match.

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“Further, Hansen was also charged with misconduct in breach of eight other clauses of the disciplinary rules. Additionally, the obligations of clubs to exercise control over their personnel were also considered in relation to the player and Connacht. Hansen, in large part, accepted that his actions amounted to misconduct and apologised for his actions.

“The disciplinary panel met on Wednesday, consisting of Roger Morris (chair, Wales), Nigel Williams (Wales) and Stefan Terblanche (South Africa). In deciding the sanction, the panel considered the apology from the player and that attaching a learning process would have a more positive outcome rather than merely applying a playing sanction.

“In their conclusion, a six-week ban was deemed appropriate with three weeks suspended. The panel also imposed the following sanctions on the player:

• The player must make a full apology to the match official (Chris Busby, IRFU) in charge of refereeing the Leinster vs Connacht fixture;
• The player 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 teammates at Connacht;
• Connacht must run an education session with their players about how to conduct themselves in post-match media sessions and interactions with the media.

“The panel noted that the player expressed extreme remorse about his comments and the manner of public attention it has drawn. Regardless of the sanction applied it was always the player’s intention to sincerely apologise to the match official involved once the disciplinary process had concluded. However, the player has also been warned as to his future conduct in these situations.

“Further, the disciplinary panel decided upon a €10,000 suspended fine 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 and a sanction will not be applied unless there is a further breach during this time.

“In conclusion, the player will now miss the next three games in Connacht’s fixture schedule:

• January 11: vs Lyon (ECPR Challenge Cup)
• January 17: v Cardiff (ECPR Challenge Cup)
• January 24: v Glasgow Warriors (BKT United Rugby Championship).”