One of the British & Irish Lions’ biggest attacking weapons may be unavailable for Saturday’s first Test against the Wallabies due to injury.
The British & Irish Lions coaching staff have created confusion around the availability of Ireland wing Mack Hansen for Saturday’s opening Test against Australia in Brisbane.
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Assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth admitted that Hansen picked up a foot injury in the Lions’ warm-up win over the Aussie-Kiwi XV, but insisted the issue wasn’t serious.
“He’s definitely not ruled out,” said Wigglesworth. “But anyone who didn’t train fully on Tuesday is a doubt.”
Hansen was one of those players.
To complicate matters, Blair Kinghorn – also nursing an injury – is in the same boat. Wigglesworth says both players could still prove their fitness at training on Wednesday and be “right in contention” for selection.
However, in the same breath, he also suggested the match day squad was already picked.
“There have been two or three conversations, we have picked, and we’ll tell the lads tomorrow [Wednesday],” he said.
So which is it?
On Monday, Lions assistant coach John Dalziel claimed Hansen was fine and took part in the squad walk-through. A day later, Wigglesworth confirmed the injury and muddied the waters with a series of contradictory statements.
All eyes are now on the Wednesday session to see if Hansen or Kinghorn train – even if it may no longer matter.
Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
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