Fit or not? Unpicking Lions' mixed messages over Hansen
In the opaque world of the British and Irish Lions, the case of Mack Hansen's availability, or otherwise, for the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday (kick-off 11.00BST) is a curious one.
There had been suggestions that the Ireland wing, who was expected to be part of Andy Farrell's squad for match at Suncorp Stadium, was carrying a foot injury after his impressive night against the AUNZ Invitational team on Saturday in Adelaide.
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On Monday, the Lions assistant coach John Dalziel was asked about Hansen and he indicated the wing was fine, was taking part in the Lions walk-through session and was showing no signs of anything untoward.
A day later and the picture seems to have changed somewhat. Another Lions assistant coach, Richard Wigglesworth, confirmed that Hansen had, indeed, hurt his foot against AUNZ.
In a confusing interview session, Wigglesworth said that Hansen's injury was nothing serious and that the management were not overly concerned about him while at the same time admitting that anybody who didn't train on Tuesday is "a doubt" for Saturday.
Hansen failed to play a full part in training on Tuesday.
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So that makes him a doubt? Well...
With injured full-back Blair Kinghorn also a concern, Wigglesworth was asked for an update.
"If they [Kinghorn included] get on the field tomorrow [Wednesday] and they're better, then they're right in contention," Wigglesworth said.
"We've not finalised anything yet, so a doubt is anyone who didn't train fully today, but he's definitely not ruled out."
This is where it got odd. On the face of it, we were told, Hansen and Kinghorn could prove their fitness on Wednesday and put themselves "right in contention" to make a squad that Wigglesworth, during the same interview session, suggested has already been settled. These two things don't add up.
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For when asked about discussions being had around the identity of the 23 for Saturday, he said: "We know we have got such quality across all positions, so we would be lying if we said it was easy.
"In terms of how quick it was, there have been two or three conversations, we have picked and we will tell the lads tomorrow [Wednesday]."
That indicates that Farrell and his coaches already know who has made the 23. So it doesn't really matter how Hansen and Kinghorn train, or don't train, on Wednesday because the 23 has already been sorted.
Prior to featuring for the Lions, Hansen had not played since April because of an ankle injury [Getty Images]
Asked if the injury to Hansen is why Scotland's Darcy Graham was rushed out here, Wigglesworth said: "Potentially. We need to make sure we're covered numbers-wise for the games coming up.
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"So that was probably expedited a bit quicker because of Blair and Mack not being on feet today [Tuesday] and potentially tomorrow [Wednesday]."
Later, Wigglesworth said that Kinghorn had actually been on his feet.
The Lions are so secretive about giving any clues about their inner workings that they can tie themselves up in knots. The team, you'd hope, would be a whole lot more convincing than some of the chat from Lions coaches these past few days, all done in the name of stealth.
They're here in Australia but they're something of a ghost squad in terms of the locals. Winning friends has pretty much always been a part of what a Lions tour is supposed to be, the very fabric of what makes this thing epic and unique.
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This one is all about a cold-blooded winning of Test matches. That's the way they're doing it - nothing else matters - so they had better win.
The biggest test of their mettle is looming large in Brisbane on Saturday against a Wallabies side who seem to be relishing some of the stuff emanating from the Lions camp - Henry Pollock's words about wanting to win the series 3-0 and Ben Earl's dream of this squad being remembered as the greatest Lions party of them all.
Big Will Skelton was asked about all of this on Monday, meeting the Lions words with a smile that seemed to say: "We shall see..."
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