Mack Hansen has emerged as an injury doubt for Ireland's Guinness Six Nations campaign next year, with the Connacht back undergoing surgery on a foot injury.
Hansen had surgery today on the foot injury, which has persisted since the summer’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.
The 27-year-old picked up the injury on the Lions tour and missed out on selection for the Test series, but did further damage to the issue on his return for Connacht in October, injuring it in the act of scoring a try late in his team’s defeat to the Bulls.
Hansen was able to recover to start Ireland’s final two Quilter Nations Series games, scoring a hat-trick in the win against the Wallabies, but after suffering another setback in the defeat to South Africa, he has now gone under the knife to determine the full extent of the issue.
Connacht’s lineout and maul coach John Muldoon believes while it's too early to set a timeline on his recovery, it’s likely to be months rather than weeks.
"There's been a few occasions that this has happened and he needs to get it right and get it fixed. It's not going to be a quick turnaround," he told RTÉ Sport.
"We're not talking about a few weeks here. It's probably medium term. Without knowing the actual facts, you're talking about medium term.
"He's just had the surgery, so we're going to have to wait to see what the actual extent of it is. Obviously, with anything, you go in and you find out what exactly it is.
"I'm not sure if they've got the report yet, but he's literally just out of surgery, so we're not going to know that for a couple of days."
It’s been a frustrating couple of years for Hansen on the injury front.
The Ireland international spent eight months sidelined with a shoulder injury in 2024, while an ankle injury saw him miss the end of the 2024/25 season for his province, for whom he has only been able to play 10 games in just under two years.
In the limited gametime he has had this season, he has looked sharp, scoring a try in his one appearance for Connacht, and adding three tries for Ireland against the Wallabies.
And Muldoon believes that while this is another frustrating lay-off for the versatile back, he will hit the ground running on his return.
"When you think back at the games, obviously he scored three tries [against Australia]. I could have probably ran them in!" Muldoon (below) laughs.
"But every time he got the ball, the place lit up. There was an energy about him. There was an energy about the crowd when he got the ball. We all know what Mack's about.
"I think it's a testament to him as well to have a number of injuries over the last while.
"Often, players take time to come back and hit the highs, but to be able to come back in fresh after not playing any rugby and having a couple of injuries and to perform at that level, I don't think people understand how mentally strong you have to be to do that.
"It has been frustrating for him and I'm sure he'll be sitting down after that operation over the next couple of weeks and months and just trying to get back on the pitch and show us the character that he is."
The province will also be without captain Cian Prendergast for their EPCR Challenge Cup Pool 1 game against Ospreys on Sunday (3.15pm), and potentially the following week’s meeting with Georgia’s Black Lion, due to a hamstring injury.
Stuart Lancaster’s side appear to be focused on the URC rather than the Challenge Cup this season, and it’s likely these next two games will be used to rotate their squad ahead of a busy and important block of Interpro games later in December.
"It does give a good opportunity for us in the Challenge Cup to give some players a chance that might need game time, some players maybe who haven't seen the pitch yet this year will be hopeful that they'll get a bit of game time over the next week or two as well.
"Look, I think we all know the way the game has gone.
"We've got 10 games in a row. You can't play everybody. It's not possible anymore the way the game is, how physical the game is and quick turnarounds, travel.
"You have to look after people. So it's important that one or two lads get game time.
"We have an 'A' game coming up in a few weeks' time.
"And then I think by the time Christmas comes in, there'll be people badly needing games and some people will need a rest."
