{"id":256050,"date":"2026-01-21T11:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/256050\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T11:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:43:10","slug":"mack-hansen-missing-as-andy-farrell-is-set-to-name-ireland-squad-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/256050\/","title":{"rendered":"Mack Hansen missing as Andy Farrell is set to name Ireland squad \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahead of Andy Farrell naming his Six Nations squad today, thoughts will be turning to international rugby, but Munster are still busy reflecting on their Champions Cup exit \u2013 and Gordon D\u2019Arcy reckons that their post-Christmas slump comes \u201cas close to a mini-crisis as the province have been for quite some time\u201d<\/a>. Whether their run of four consecutive defeats, across two different tournaments, galvanises them or shreds their confidence further is, he says, now the key question. <\/p>\n

Munster now join Connacht and Ulster in the Challenge Cup, Connacht \u2013 and Ireland \u2013 likely to have to make do without Mack Hansen for the rest of the season<\/a> due to his foot injury. He\u2019ll be missing, then, when Leinster visit the Dexcom Stadium for their URC meeting on Saturday, the day the ground\u2019s new Clan Stand will be unveiled<\/a>. Gerry Thornley talks to Stuart Lancaster ahead of the big occasion.<\/p>\n

In the battle for the Irish number 10 shirt, might Harry Byrne nudge in on the Sam Prendergast v Jack Crowley duel<\/a>? It would, writes Johnny Watterson, be a \u201cdisrupting selection\u201d, but \u201canother sharp pair of elbows\u201d scrapping for that jersey might just be what Ireland needs.<\/p>\n

John O\u2019Sullivan, meanwhile, brings news of the squad Andrew Browne has named for the Under-20 Six Nations<\/a>, tighthead prop Sami Bishti chosen as captain. Munster\u2019s Tom Wood is one of just four survivors from last season\u2019s squad<\/a>, John talking to the Garryowen man whose father you might have heard of (Keith).<\/p>\n

In Gaelic games, Se\u00e1n Moran reflects on last Sunday\u2019s club final between Dingle and St Brigid\u2019s<\/a> and concludes that while its quality can\u2019t be solely ascribed to the new rules, \u201cthey certainly played a role\u201d in what was a thriller of a game.<\/p>\n

Having retired from intercounty hurling last season, Declan Hannon, Limerick\u2019s five-time All-Ireland winning captain<\/a>, will be in spectating mode for this year\u2019s League and Championship campaigns. He has every confidence, he tells Paul Keane, that Limerick can bounce back after two barren seasons, in All-Ireland terms.<\/p>\n

Brittas Bay Golf Club, bought last year for a reported \u20ac30m-plus by Raymond and Nicky Conlan, will bounce back in 2027 after its makeover<\/a>. Philip Reid talks to Nicky and course architect Kyle Phillips who, by the sounds of it, has been given free rein. \u201cYou don\u2019t employ Michelangelo and take away his brush,\u201d as Nicky put it.<\/p>\n

TV Watch: TNT Sports continues its live coverage of the Australian tennis Open<\/a> up to 1.15 this afternoon, and you can see highlights at 11pm tonight. You have a bunch of Champions League games to choose from, including Marseille v Liverpool<\/a> (RT\u00c9 2, 8pm), Newcastle v PSV (Virgin Media Two, 8pm) and Chelsea v Pafos (TNT Sports 3, 8pm). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of Andy Farrell naming his Six Nations squad today, thoughts will be turning to international rugby, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,46616],"class_list":["post-256050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-sports-briefing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}