by Ireland Wing Mack Hansen is expected to miss a place in the British and Irish Lions team for the first test against the Wallabies on Saturday with a foot injury. Hansen’s setback comes with the full -back Blair Kinghorn, who can also miss after both skipped training on Tuesday.
The Lions have not yet officially claimed Hansen or Kinghorn from the dispute to stand against Australia in Brisbane, but coach Andy Farrell has already selected his team privately for Saturday and it seems unlikely that the two players have not trained.
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The loss of Hansen is a blow for Farrell, who previously reserved special praise to the Irish winger after his performance against Western Force. Hansen, born in Canberra, had pushed Tommy Freeman hard on a place on the right wing before an injury in the 48-0 victory last Saturday suffered from Auunz Invitational XV in Adelaide last Saturday.
On Monday, the striker coach John Dalziel denied that, despite the decision to accelerate Darcy Graham’s arrival in the squad in front of his Scottish colleagues Ewan Asman and Rory Sutherland. Since then, however, the Lions have confirmed that Hansen suffered the injury last Saturday.
“He injured his foot in the game, I don’t think it is serious, but he was led today,” said Lions Assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth. “Hopefully it will be completely integrated. It is nothing we get about, but we have to make sure that we have enough numbers during training. But it doesn’t look too serious. A doubt is someone who is not completely trained today, but he is definitely not excluded.
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“We know [team selection] was simple. With regard to how quickly there were two or three conversations, we selected and will tell the boys tomorrow. Nothing has been announced so that this can always change how you trained and what it looks like. Therefore, these things are held back a little. “
Since Kinghorn has already sent training and Elliot Daly home with a broken arm, Hugo Keenan is expected to start with the full -back, while Marcus Smith can benefit on Saturday with a place under the settlement as someone who offers Fullback Cover. Against the Aunz Invitational XV, Smith was on the bench, which covered the fly half and the full-back next to Owen Farrell, which impressed in the inner center in a 30-minute cameo appearance.
Wigglesworth, who played next to Farrell near Saracens for a decade, added: “I enjoyed it [working with him again]. He did exactly what we knew that he would do in relation to help and influence, and obviously contribute to the field when this time appeared. It was great to work with him again, but I was probably more excited for everyone who hadn’t worked with him in order to be able to experience it. He was great, as we knew he would be. Not everyone did it, but we knew it.
“It played hundreds of times on Owen. They all know how good he is, what influence he has, his knowledge and how he helps other people to get better. We all knew how good he would be and it was. He is the influential Owen we know and love.”
