The Connacht and Ireland wing has a foot injury
Wing Mack Hansen is set to miss the British & Irish Lions’ first Test against Australia on Saturday with a foot injury.
Hansen, 27, picked up the problem towards the end of the 48-0 win over the AUNZ Invitational XV on Saturday in Adelaide and did not train with the Lions on Tuesday in Brisbane.
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Assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth confirmed the coaching staff had already had their final selection meeting, so it appears both Hansen and Blair Kinghorn, who went down with a knee injury against the Brumbies, will be unavailable for Andy Farrell.
When asked about Hansen, Wigglesworth said: ”He hurt his foot in the game, I don’t think it is anything serious but he was managed today. Hopefully he will be fully integrated pretty quickly. It is nothing that we are over concerned about but we need to make sure we have enough numbers at training but it doesn’t look too serious.
Pushed on whether he can play against Australia, Wigglesworth added: “A bit like Blair, we will find out tomorrow, he didn’t train fully today so we will know a bit more tomorrow.”
The injuries to Kinghorn and Hansen reduce the Lions’ options across the back three with Hugo Keenan in line to start at full-back. Huw Jones may be required to cover full-back, where he excelled during his stint at Harlequins, and even the wing depending on the make-up of Farrell’s final 23.
Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman and Darcy Graham have been called up by the Lions as cover for the First Nations & Pasifika XV game next week.
They join Irish prop Thomas Clarkson who is also on his way to Australia as cover. pic.twitter.com/anpHLFiOeq
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Jamie Osborne has been in Brisbane since the weekend and his positional versatility means he may have an outside chance of making the 23 while Scotland wing Darcy Graham joined up with the group on Monday.
Wigglesworth said that the players will find out the team on Wednesday while the Lions will officially announce their side to face the Wallabies on Thursday ahead of the first Test at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday. He also suggested there is a chance the coaches could make late changes.
“It wasn’t very, ‘this is the team, this is final’. It’s still not been announced so who knows, we could go back and we’re having another one (meeting).”
The former England scrum-half revealed the Lions are relishing a full week of preparation after a hectic pre-Test tour schedule which has seen them play and win five games in 14 days.
“We are loving having a weeks prep and a fresh squad ready to go, it has been nice to get back to a proper build-up.”
Test week is a step-up and Wigglesworth believes the side can get better even in a short window as they look to raise their game for Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies.
“I think we can definitely get better because there is actually time. What we have had to do is a lot or walk throughs, low intensity stuff and a lot of meetings and reviews in prep but there is a game going on. This is a chance to train what you want to get better at, as well as the plans and what we have been doing. So we expect to be better again on Saturday.”
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