Winger Mack Hansen will miss Ireland’s Six Nations campaign having undergone surgery for a dislocated shoulder suffered in Connacht’s victory over Munster at the Sportsground on New Year’s Day. He is expected to be out for up to four months.
The 25-year-old suffered a similar injury when playing for the Brumbies, and Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins admitted that although unfortunate to have the same injury twice, Hansen is familiar with the rehab and the length of time.
“Disappointing for us to lose Mack for such a period of time. Obviously there will be a knock-on effect to the Irish campaign and Six Nations, and most of all disappointing for Mack,” said Wilkins.
“I think he was starting to find some form and rhythm having been a little bit stop-stop since the World Cup, so everyone loses out in that sense.
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“The fans will miss watching him up, and it’s up to us to fill that gap and others get a chance to step up.”
However, the popular winger is still “very much around” the team at the Sportsground, although in a sling.
“He has not lost his sense of humour thankfully. He was in with us at the end of last week. It’s about keeping his spirits up and the key thing is to get this surgery and these initial couple of days out of the way and you can start on that rehab campaign.”
However Wilkins says Connacht were surprised there was no “further scrutiny” of the incident.
“We were surprised ... to be honest, but there’s no further that we can take it.”
Connacht face Lyon away next Saturday in the Champions Cup and will also be without promising young centre Cathal Forde with shoulder injury, while scrumhalf Caolin Blade is undergoing return-to-play protocols following a head knock and his availability for the trip to France will be assessed later in the week.
Also unavailable are Paul Boyle (face), Santiago Cordero (knee), Diarmuid Kilgallen (hamstring), Seán O’Brien (foot), Tiernan O’Halloran (foot) and Colm Reilly (ankle).
However, there is some good news with Sean Jansen (abdomen) and Oisín McCormack (hamstring) who are available for selection.
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