Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins defends Mack Hansen's post-match comments criticizing the inconsistency of match officials following their loss to Leinster.
CONNACHT HEAD COACH Pete Wilkins says they are not trying to get any Leinster player in trouble as the fallout from Mack Hansen’s explosive post-match comments continue into the second round of the Christmas derby games.
Hansen said that it “seemed like 16 men against us” in their 20-12 loss to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and “it’s just getting to the point where it’s starting to really piss us off, because we just feel we’re getting played out of games and we never get any calls”, in an astonishing broadside against match officials. Hansen highlighted hits on Bundee Aki and Josh Ioane which weren’t investigated to the same degree as hits on Leinster players, with Wilkins post-match and again this morning welcoming Hansen’s “honesty” and stating that there is constant communication with the match officials and Tappe Henning, the South African who is head of match officials for the URC. Advertisement “There are always conversations you can have with the citing officer,” said Wilkins. “For us, the key thing, even Mack’s comments the other night, nobody is trying to get a Leinster player in trouble or get them sent off or have them in a situation where they are missing games. “We have a good relationship with Leinster as a club and some of our players are very close to them, they play in the same Irish team as them. So it’s not about getting Leinster players in trouble. “Mack’s comments were more about looking for inconsistency in reactions to moments in the game. That’s where his frustration came from. There are always conversations after the event. But his frustrations were borne of a feeling of inconsistency.” Wilkins, whose side face Ulster in a crunch URC clash next Saturday at Dexcom Stadium, said Hansen shed a light on what he feels like for a player when they believe match officials are inconsistent. “I think every coaching room feels that they are hard done by, especially when they los
CONNACHT LEINSTER MATCH OFFICIALS URC RUGBY CRITICISM
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