'Months for sure' before Ireland's Hansen returns

It will be "months for sure" before Ireland wing Mack Hansen returns from injury, according to Connacht scrum and contact coach Cullie Tucker.

Hansen emerged as a doubt for the 2026 Six Nations after undergoing surgery on his foot last week.

The 27-year-old first sustained the problem on the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia and missed all three Tests of the victorious series.

The Australia-born back-three player reaggravated the issue on his only provincial appearance of the season against the Bulls in October and subsequently missed Ireland's autumn Tests against New Zealand and Japan.

He was named at full-back for the first time in his international career against Australia and marked his return with a memorable first-half hat-trick.

A week later against South Africa, however, he was replaced after 64 minutes and is now set for an extended spell on the sidelines.

"Yes, surgery went well. It was obviously an unusual and invasive surgery for him," said Tucker.

"He's in the very early parts of recovery now. In terms of timeline I'm not exactly sure but you're talking months for sure.

"It is very early stages after it but he's out and he's at home recovering at the moment."

Ireland start their 2026 Six Nations away to France on 5 February.

Having broken into the Ireland team during the 2022 Six Nations, Hansen played every minute of the 2023 Grand Slam campaign on the right wing, scoring three tries.

However, he missed the 2024 tournament because of a shoulder injury and endured an interrupted championship earlier this year, missing the Scotland and France games with hamstring and quad issues.