NO ONE IS a winner after what happened in the aftermath of Connacht’s defeat to Leinster last month.

Mack Hansen has been banned. The three-game suspension means he will be available for the start of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign, an obvious relief for him and interim head coach Simon Easterby, but Hansen will be coming into that campaign a little cold.

He might not have played both of Connacht’s Challenge Cup games this month and would definitely have been at Ireland’s training camp in Portugal at the end of January anyway, missing their URC clash with Glasgow, but it’s still not ideal.

Hansen will presumably be more guarded than ever in his dealings with the media from now on, which would be a shame given how entertaining a presence he has been up until this point.

Connacht lose out on Hansen’s services this month and have had to deal with the fallout of this case, which presumably has been a distraction behind the scenes. Some of their squad feel the ban is harsh, even if Hansen and Connacht have been totally accepting of the independent disciplinary panel’s decisions in public.

Referee Chris Busby loses out as he gets set to retire from professional rugby. His decision is believed to be multi-faceted and personal reasons have seemingly been key, yet this controversy appears to have been the final straw in deciding to step away.

It’s sad to see a referee who only became professional in 2021 walking away. Busby had risen to refereeing top-level Tests in the past year and at a time when international refereeing has been going through a transition from long-standing stalwarts like Wayne Barnes and Jaco Peyper to the next generation, it’s the opposite of what rugby needs.

The IRFU only had three match officials named for duty in the upcoming Six Nations, with Busby joining Andrew Brace and Eoghan Cross, but that looks certain to now just be two. Again, it’s the opposite of what is needed. So the IRFU loses out, as does the URC given its challenges to bring through the next crop of referees. Busby’s retirement means years of development are out the window.

Busby’s decision points to how challenging it is to be a professional referee at the moment. They have become the target of disgusting abuse and even death threats, horrible stuff that affects their families too.

Chris Busby had risen through the refereeing ranks. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Players and coaches are certainly exposed to abuse as well but get more praise to go along with that. Match officials just seem to get the abuse and this isn’t just as professional level. It’s getting increasingly difficult to attract referees to the amateur game because no one can be bothered dealing with the bile that’s often directed at them.

Criticism is part of sport and anyone who becomes a professional needs to have a thick skin. But criticism is different to what many officials face. 

There is also a scathing nature to lots of the feedback directed at referees behind the scenes. Some coaches shred their performances in post-match reviews that are sent to the match officials’ managers.

Referees always need to work hard to keep up with the improvement that players and coaches are making at the highest levels, but there probably needs to be more understanding of how difficult it is for officials to spot everything in a sport where things often aren’t completely black and white.

This is possibly why the independent disciplinary panel decided that Hansen must undertake an “appropriate course related to match officiating” as part of his sanction, “disseminating” what he learns to his team-mates.

The three-person panel – which was independent of the URC and included former Ulster and Springboks player Stefan Terblanche – clearly want Hansen to get a better understanding of the realities and challenges of refereeing.

There has been some annoyance about this element of the sanctions but the disciplinary panel said that “a learning process would have a more positive outcome rather than merely applying a playing sanction.” Without the ‘learning process’ the ban would perhaps have been longer. 

Top referees regularly train with club sides and their national teams to the benefit of all parties but the relationship between match officials and the players and coaches could arguably be closer.

Right now, we’re in a place where coaches and players are frustrated by match officials nearly every weekend, while match officials feel that it’s a bit of a free-for-all on them. That’s not an ideal place for rugby to be.

For now, Connacht and Hansen have done the right thing by drawing a line under this saga, accepting the sanctions and apologising.

It has been a bitter affair, with strong opinions coming from all corners, so it’s better that decisions have been made and people can begin to move on.

Yet that doesn’t mask the fact that no one wins here and important issues have been highlighted. Rugby can’t just throw its head back into the sand and ignore them.