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Connacht winger Mack Hansen opens up about his recovery from injury, the high standards set by head coach Stuart Lancaster, and the excitement surrounding the team's new signings for the 2024/25 season.
IT WAS THE news all Connacht fans wanted to see. The pre-season games were here, and Mack Hansen was back on the teamsheet. After missing most of the 2025/26 campaign for club and country following surgery on a troublesome foot injury, the 28-year-old has now had two run-outs in recent weeks, featuring in the province's pre-season fixtures against Vannes and Ealing Trailfinders.
"It's why we all play the game, to actually play rugby, I haven't been doing that for a long time," Hansen says. "(When I did) my shoulder (in 2024), my first rehab with that was a nine, 10-month-er. I probably didn't deal with it great, more I just didn't see a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel.
"This time… rugby was all I ever wanted to do so that was what kept me going. Just being able to get back and play with Connacht and hopefully play well enough where I can push for a spot with Ireland again. It's what I love doing. It's what I've always loved doing and that was a driver for getting me back.
" The problem which kept Hansen sidelined for the guts of a year came from a simple incident on the training pitch. "The way I did it wasn't very exciting at all. I wish I had done it skydiving or fighting a shark or something. It was just as simple as stepping on a bloke's foot the wrong way.
"Unfortunately just the way I landed on it, it gave out and I ended up doing a few of the ligaments, which were holding together my midfoot more than anything. That's where all the power in your foot goes. So, I had a lot of power going through there with not much stability and I ended up having to get a bone fusion, six screws and a plate in the end. Fair number on it.
" Hansen only lined out once for Connacht last season, but that didn't stop Stuart Lancaster making a big impression on the winger/fullback in his first year as head coach. "He's everything that we asked for as players. He's come in and he's just turned the place upside down, in the best way possible. He came in and said, 'Look, this is what I want to do.
This is how we're going to do it.
' And either you're on board or you're fucked, pretty much. "He's just been unbelievable, the training standards, the standards we hold ourselves in everything pretty much have just gone up through the roof, and that definitely showed towards the end of the season. " The former Leinster boss has challenged Hansen to not only be 'world class' for the province, but to bring a level of consistency that meets his status as an Ireland regular.
"It's just been the standard that he's holding myself at, more than anything. Hansen has featured in two pre-season games for Connacht. Dan Clohessy / INPHO Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO "I don't feel, and this is in the best way possible, I don't feel super comfortable that I'm always going to have a starting spot this week.
Like if I have a bad game, or even an average game, we've got a lot of guys that can fill that spot.
"And Stu said that to me, he's been pushing me to be world-class, whatever position I'm playing, and if I'm not doing that, he's made it very clear that's not good enough. "He's pushing me to be as best as I can, and that's all you can ask for as a player. Like, it's intimidating and can be a bit scary to hear because you're like, 'Fuck, I'm one game away from sitting on the bench.
' But on the other side of that, it's making me week to week just have to give my all and keeping me on top of my game. "So I'm very thankful for the way that he's doing that, and he's doing that to pretty much every lad in the squad as well, which has been really good.
" "I don't think I've ever been complacent," he clarifies, "there's been times maybe I haven't had a great game or anything, but the times I have played for Connacht, I've always given my all. "But I guess I maybe have had a bit more of a luxury in the past of maybe having a bit of money in the bank where you can afford to have a bad game here or there and can keep your spot, whereas this year it's not really the case.
You've got to be performing week-in, week-out. If you're not, they're going to find someone that can.
" Hansen missed most of last season following surgery on a foot injury. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO And it's a squad that will have a new feel this season, with long-serving Connacht stalwarts Jack Carty and Denis Buckley among a sizeable contingent moving on, while a trio of Leinster men - Ciarán Frawley, Will Connors and Jerry Cahir - are currently settling into their new surroundings, alongside South African loosehead Francois van Wyk.
Frawley's move west looks a significant signing by Connacht, with the 28-year-old showing some of his best form last season. Hansen knows the Skerries man well through years of Ireland camps together.
"Frawls is an unbelievable player," Hansen says. "I've always been a massive fan of his and I've always thought he's underrated, but I think his performances in the last 12 months or so have shown how good of a player he can be. "I think if he can get some consistency, which I think he'll get with the game time he gets with us over the coming year, he's going to be a massive player for us.
He's just a really good man as well, really good guy to have around the squad and I think we're both very excited about it.
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