LAST UPDATE | 1 Jan
CONNACHT COACH PETE Wilkins said that Mack Hansen is extremely sore after suffering a shoulder injury in the closing stages of their win over Munster but the extent of the problem won’t be known until he undergoes some scans.
Hansen was in considerable pain as he was helped off after being injured as Connacht dug deep to end a five-match losing run in very difficult conditions at the Sportsground.
“Mack injured his shoulder, receiving a cleanout at that breakdown,” said Wilkins.
“The severity of that we will have to see. Mack is pretty sore downstairs to be honest but we will get the scans and see where he is at.”
Connacht finished the game with 14 men having opted for a 6:2 bench split, with centre Cathal Forde and scrum-half Caolin Blade also going off injured.
“Fordy went off with a shoulder injury, like an AC joint, not sure at this stage of the severity of it. Hopefully not too bad but it was enough for his immediate removal. Straight away your 6-2 bench split starts to look a little bit skinny in terms of that, but we trained for that, losing one of our backs with JJ (Hanrahan) going to full- back and Jack (Carty) going to ten.
“I think that was important in terms of the lads having some cohesion but also mentally in terms of riding out what could have been a major disruption.
“Caolin Blade failed a HIA which he went off with, with 15 minutes to go and then Mack injured his shoulder. To finish the game with 14 men and see it out in that fashion, I suppose that is the satisfaction,” he added.
Wilkins said that the injuries picked up by Hansen and Munster’s Jack O’Donoghue, the latter earning Connacht winger Byron Ralston a yellow card, cause angst for coaches.
“I was coming down for half-time and was standing in the technical area for the Byron one. I think where players are making contact with the lower limbs of players contesting the ball, I know that is something that the powers that be want to be particularly hard on this year.
“I have not had the replays of it but certainly the referees have had a good look at it and for it to be a yellow I don’t know where there is any follow-up on that or whether that is the decision made.
“I think the Mack one, the discussion is the player who hit him and damaged his shoulder, is he coming in legally or is he coming in from the side? These are split-second moments and the referees have to make a decision and the TMOs help them on that but I think if you are on the receiving end of either you are probably a little unhappy as a coach,” added Wilkins.
The Connacht coach said they did enough to dictate the match and bring their losing run to an end as they continued their recent dominance over their nearest neighbours.
“We deserved the result. I think you’re not going to win an interpro in these conditions without bags of character. I thought that was there, the fight, the relentlessness, that was really important for us,” he added.
“Also, there was some smarts in terms of the game management. There were some fantastic defensive sets, which we used to turn momentum and apply pressure back to Munster.
“There were all different bits of our game that stood up, the pressure around the set-piece, the lineout defence, I was really pleased.”
Graham Rowntree, meanwhile, was far from happy about the two injuries which have added tighthead Oli Jager and No.8 Jack O’Donoghue to his extensive casualty list.
Both were stretchered off in the opening half at the Sportsground as the injury list is now around 20 players amid a slump which has seen only one win in Munster’s last six games.
“They’re not in a great state. Oli sustained a head injury from a strange looking tackle that was apparently checked (by the TMO), and then Jack O’Donoghue got cleared out, a horrible side entry and his knee got twisted. It’s not great if I’m honest with you.
“Two injuries we didn’t need. They didn’t look great in my opinion, but it’s not why we lost the game. We lost the game because we lost control of it, particularly in the last 10 minutes, where we were starved of field position.
“We’ve had injuries but we’ve got guys who have been able to train with us every day. Our training is set up for a next man up mentality. It didn’t help losing those two guys today, I’m not going to lie. They were significant performers for us.”
Rowntree was disappointed with the way the URC champions slipped away in the closing quarter of what was a tight game to then.
“Terrible conditions. We were starved of possession, particularly in that second-half. Until about ten minutes to go, we were managing the game quite well.
“We just needed to find a way to get up field. But then we lost our way. We lost our way tactically in the middle of their field there around 71 minutes. And then we were trying to force the game. And then the next thing you know, we’ve had everything taken away from us. Bonus point. Hugely disappointing.”
