‘It does happen’ – Ireland great weighs in on accusations of Leinster bias after Mack Hansen officiating tirade

Ireland great Alan Quinlan claims that Mack Hansen is correct over his assumption that Connacht have been the victim of some bad refereeing calls.

Following his team’s 20-12 loss to Leinster in the United Rugby Championship over the weekend, the wing went on an incredible diatribe.
Following his team’s 20-12 loss to Leinster in the United Rugby Championship over the weekend, the wing went on an incredible diatribe.

The incidents in question

While the referee and his TMO deliberated over Josh Ioane’s hit on Gus McCarthy, they did not even look at Jordie Barrett’s cleanout on Bundee Aki, which saw the latter clutch his head.

Although Hansen did not state that Leinster themselves were consistently the beneficiaries of favourable refereeing, it led to a wider debate around how the top teams are officiated.

And Munster legend Quinlan, who was part of two Champions Cup triumphs in 2006 and 2008, duly had his say on the matter.

“If you’re going back, it’s not just this game, he’s referencing many games and it does happen,” he told Off The Ball. “It happens in football, in other sports as well. Toulouse get it in France.

“Those 50/50 calls, it just happens in sport.”

Quinlan was surprised that the Barrett-Aki incident was not reviewed by officials after seeing it live. “Jordie Barrett comes in from the side on Bundee Aki. I saw this immediately in live play when I was in commentary. I thought there was something there and they’re going to look at it,” he said. “It wasn’t reviewed at all, there were a couple of replays and they never got into it and never pushed to look at it.”

Hansen’s outburst too much?

Hansen and Connacht have garnered plenty of sympathy for their viewpoint, as well as an appreciation for the wing’s honesty post-match, but equally the sport takes pride in its respect for the match officials.

The Ireland star’s frustration appeared to be with the whole officiating team, rather than just the referee, but Chris Busby has naturally found himself in the midst of a storm.

With the likes of Wayne Barnes and Tom Foley revealing that they received death threats in the wake of last year’s Rugby World Cup, some will argue that comments such as Hansen’s will harm the game and lead to an increase in abuse.

Meanwhile, others argue that match officials should be held more accountable for their decisions.

Quinlan, a former back-rower, thought Hansen’s style of expressing himself was little inappropriate, despite ‘admiring’ his honesty.

“It goes a bit too far, Chris Busby is a good referee,” he added. “To be honest, the TMO and assistant referees were inconsistent and didn’t always help Chris Busby.

“You’ve got to admire the player and person as well for being honest.”