British and Irish Lions team ‘not finalised’ after Mack Hansen setback as star full-back remains in contention
British and Irish Lions Mack Hansen and Blair Kinghorn
Andy Farrell’s playing stocks have been dealt yet another blow with Mack Hansen emerging as a major doubt for the British and Irish Lions’ series opener against the Wallabies.
Hansen has been in fine form for the tourists in the build-up to the Tests and had been primed for a potential start in Brisbane, but he did not train on Tuesday after struggling with an injury he sustained in the comprehensive victory over the AUNZ Invitational XV.
In the build-up to the Test series, Farrell and his coaching staff have added several players to the squad, including the likes of Jamie George, Thomas Clarkson, Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman and Darcy Graham.
Mack Hansen in doubt
The latter’s call-up certainly raised a few eyebrows as, at the time, there were no injury concerns other than Blair Kinghorn in the back-three, but B&I Lions assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth has now confirmed Hansen’s injury.
“He hurt his foot just in the [AUNZ XV] game, so I don’t think it’s anything serious, but he was managed today,” Wigglesworth told reporters.
“Hopefully, he will be integrated pretty quickly. It’s nothing that we’re overly concerned about, but we needed to make sure we had enough numbers at training and everything. But it doesn’t look too serious.”
Hansen hasn’t been ruled out of Test I just yet, but Wigglesworth does concede that he is a doubt.
“We’ve not finalised everything yet. A doubt is anyone who didn’t train fully today, but he’s definitely not ruled out,” he added.
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Interestingly, Graham linked up with the squad on Monday with his fellow countryman Ashman and Sutherland only arriving on Sunday after Scotland’s clash with Samoa.
Asked if the Edinburgh winger was brought in quicker due to the injuries of Hansen and Kinghorn, Wigglesworth replied: “Potentially, we needed to make sure we’re covered numbers-wise and for the games coming up, so that was probably a bit quicker because of Blair Kinghorn and Mack not being on feet today and potentially tomorrow.”
Kinghorn’s knee injury looked set to rule him out of the showdown in Brisbane but there is a chance he could still feature on Saturday with the assistant coach stating that they will know more in the next 24 hours.
