Ireland star banned for ref rant

NEWS: Ireland and Connacht wing Mack Hansen 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 Hansen’s sanction.

Hansen was charged with misconduct in breach of clause 3.2 of the disciplinary rules of the United Rugby Championship.

This followed after comments that he made about the match officiating of the Round Eight Leinster v Connacht clash on December 21, 2024.

Those comments included significant criticism of the referee officiating at that match.

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In Clause 3.2 of the disciplinary rules, it states, “misconduct” is defined to include (among other things) “ … any conduct, behaviour, statements … or practices by a Club and/or any of its players, its other Persons or its supporters, on or off the playing enclosure, during a match or otherwise, that is unsporting and/or insulting and/or that brings or has the potential to bring the sport of rugby union, the championship, other clubs or persons, match officials, [United] Rugby Championship, one or more of the unions and/or any sponsor or other commercial partner of the United Rugby Championship into disrepute …”.

Further, Hansen was also charged with misconduct in breach of eight other clauses of the disciplinary rules (3.3, 3.3.4, 3.3.5, 3.3.6, 3.3.8, 3.3.13, 3.3.14 and 3.3.18).

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, January 8 and consisted of Roger Morris (Chairman, 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 v 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.

Ireland released a statement condemning the behaviour.

The official statement read: “A core pillar underpinning the game of Rugby in Ireland is around respect for all.

“Without match officials, there is no game, and the IRFU is committed to delivering an inclusive game for all.

“The IRFU and the four provinces will also be working to ensure all stakeholders of the Game understand their responsibilities.”

The player will now miss the next three games in Connacht fixture schedule:

January 11: v Lyon (ECPR Challenge Cup)

January 17: v Cardiff Rugby (ECPR Challenge Cup)

January 24: v Glasgow Warriors (BKT United Rugby Championship)

The player and the club (among others including the league) have the right to appeal.

Image credit @URC