“Not acceptable”Nigel Owens weighs in on Mack Hansen controversy as former Test referee hits out at ‘joke’ ban

Respected former Test referee Nigel Owens has slammed the fact that Mack Hansen did not serve out the full six weeks for his comments on officiating

Ireland wing Mack Hansen in actespected former Test referee Nigel Owens has slammed the fact that Mack Hansen did not serve out the full six weeks for his comments on officiating.

The Ireland wing was banned for criticising those in charge of Connacht’s United Rugby Championship clash with Leinster in Dublin, but three of those were suspended.

Hansen’s side succumbed 20-12 at the Aviva Stadium in December and the 26-year-old was unhappy with what he felt was some inconsistent decisions.

Mitigation applied to Hansen

He was subsequently punished for what was said in the post-match press conference, but Owens was unimpressed that mitigation was applied by the disciplinary panel.

“One thing that really frustrates me about the whole situation is that Hansen was banned for six weeks, with three weeks suspended if he apologised to the referee and undertook an appropriate course related to match officiating,” he wrote in his WalesOnline column.

“I’m not commenting on how long a ban should have been given in the first place, but I am getting fed up with seeing so many suspensions halved or at least reduced due to a player saying sorry. If it’s an offence worthy of a six week suspension, it should be a six week suspension.

“I’m not saying this is the case with Hansen at all, but it’s true that players can just say sorry and not mean it, just to get their ban reduced. It’s a joke, if you ask me. Those involved really need to look at the judiciary process and the consistency in citing, as well as the consistencies of these sorts of bans.

Owens also gave his view on the comments themselves, believing that the Ireland star was wrong in expressing himself the way he did.

Although the wing got lots of support for his honesty, the former referee insists that it does not help anyone and, ultimately, will not help improve the standard of officiating.

‘Not acceptable’

“There is already a system in place where the coaches can feed back to the referee manager and referee and say they are not happy with the performance, or question why they were penalised for a certain matter. But for players to come out with comments like that after the match is not acceptable,” the Welshman added.

“I refereed games where I got things wrong and if people criticised me, I had no issues with it. It’s nice to take the plaudits when you’re doing well, but you’re always going to get comments when you have a bad game. That’s just the way refereeing is and that’s not going to change.

“I didn’t watch the game in question, so I can’t judge Busby’s performance, but I know for a player like Hansen to come out after the full time whistle and criticise the referee in that kind of fashion is not doing anybody any good.

“Yes, of course, if a referee’s performance is not up to standard, then should not be above being questioned. There is a review and selection process in place which will deal with below par performances, which will affect your future appointments. But the open abuse of referees in press conferences after games is not the way to go about it.”