A TIMELINE HAS not yet been established for when Mack Hansen might return to action with Connacht coach Stuart Lancaster unable to confirm that the Irish winger will be back before the end of the season.

The 27-year-old is recuperating from surgery on a troublesome foot injury in early December and while the procedure has been a success it has not been established when he might be back on the field.

Lancaster confirmed that it’s a ‘relatively long process’ that they are looking at as they sort out an issue which saw Hansen ruled out of all three tests for the Lions against his native Australia during the summer because of the foot injury.

He suffered a recurrence of the injury during his only appearance this season for Connacht against the Bulls in mid-October and while he marked his return to international duty with a hat-trick against Australia and also played against South Africa, the injury flared up again and the medical teams opted for surgery in an effort to resolve the issue.

Lancaster said the surgery was a success but a timeline has not been established yet and he was unable to confirm that the winger will see action before the end of this campaign.

“Before the end of the season? I couldn’t answer that. But I know it’s a relatively long process we’re looking at. I honestly couldn’t tell you, but I don’t think he’ll be involved in the short-term, that’s for sure,” said Lancaster.

He has only had Hansen, who has scored 12 tries in 30 Irish appearances, available for one match this season since he took charge in the summer, while Connacht fans have only seen him in action four times in 2025.

Injuries and international duty have curtailed his appearances for Connacht, making nine appearances in total last season and just four the previous term.

Hansen, now in his fifth season in Galway, has made a total of 42 appearances for Connacht, scoring 14 tries in the process, having played 14 games in each of his first two seasons at the Sportsground.