Mack Hansen: Ireland wing to miss Six Nations campaign with dislocated shoulder

Mack Hansen: Ireland wing to miss Six Nations campaign with dislocated shoulder
News Desk

By News Desk


Published: 08/01/2024

Ireland wing Mack Hansen has been ruled out of their Six Nations campaign after dislocating his shoulder.

His club Connacht announced that Hansen will be out for three to four months.

The Australia native is undergoing surgery on Monday for the injury which he sustained in his side's win over Munster in the United Rugby Championship on New Year's Day.

Hansen, 25, has won 21 Ireland caps and played an important role in their Grand Slam success last year.

He also started three of Ireland's four group games at the 2023 World Cup as well as starting in their quarter-final defeat by New Zealand in Paris.

News of Hansen's injury comes just three days after it was announced that Ireland will be without prop Dave Kilcoyne for the defence of their Six Nations title.

Kilcoyne, 35, also suffered a shoulder injury, with Munster saying he will be out for up to six months after having surgery on his injury.

Ireland begin their Six Nations defence against France in Marseille on 2 February.

Head coach Andy Farrell will next week name an extended squad for a training camp in Portugal ahead of the start of the 2024 competition.

"It's disappointing for us to lose Mack for such a period of time," Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins told RTE Sport.

"Obviously there'll be a knock-on effect to the Irish campaign in the Six Nations and most of all disappointment for Mack.

"He was starting to find some form and rhythm having been a little bit stop-start since the World Cup.

"Everyone loses out in that sense and the fans will miss watching him play as well so it's up to us to fill that gap and other players get a chance to step up.

"He's not lost his sense of humour, thankfully, he was in with us at the end of last week so very much around the place albeit in a sling.

"He's gone off for surgery today. We've had lots of contact with him. It's about trying to keep his spirits up. 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.

"He's had a shoulder injury before, a similar injury when he was at Brumbies in Australia so although that's unfortunate to have it twice, at the same time he's familiar with the surgical process, familiar with rehab and that length of time."

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