Baird And Hansen Injuries Add To Ireland’s Disappointment
An injured Ryan Baird is pictured leaving the pitch after being replaced during Ireland's Quilter Nations Series clash with South Africa ©INPHO/Gary Carr
Ryan Baird and Mack Hansen sustained injuries during Ireland’s Quilter Nations Series defeat to South Africa on Saturday, with both players replaced during the final quarter of the match.
Baird suffered a fractured tibia during Ireland’s final Test of 2025, a hugely disappointing note for his impressive November run to end on after being ever-present this month in the number 6 jersey.
He played every minute of the Chicago clash with New Zealand and the wins over Japan and Australia at the Aviva Stadium, scoring his third international try during the record victory over the Wallabies.
The 26-year-old, who is set to be sidelined for up to three months, played through the pain barrier as Ireland dug in against the Springboks. He came off on the hour mark with his Leinster colleague Jack Conan replacing him.
Speaking in the aftermath, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said: “Ryan Baird, I believe, has fractured his tibia. He tried to carry on within all that as well, so some courage being shown there.”
Meanwhile, Hansen’s bad run of luck with injuries continued with a recurrence of the foot injury that sidelined him during the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. He had aggravated the injury when playing for Connacht last month.
He marked his return in superb style just over a week ago, scoring a first-half hat-trick of tries against Australia when making his first ever Test start in the full-back position.
However, in an attritional encounter with the World champions, Hansen was seen hobbling off in the 64th minute, with Farrell saying: “Mack has injured his foot again, so that’s a little bit ongoing. We’ll see how that turns up tomorrow (Sunday).”
It is bad news for both Leinster and Connacht who are back in BKT United Rugby Championship action this week, before the start of their respective Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup campaigns.
In a frustrating finish to the Quilter Nations Series for Ireland, they paid the price for their indiscipline which saw James Ryan receive a 20-minute red card – his illegal clearout also saw a Tadhg Beirne try disallowed – and there were yellow cards for Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley, Andrew Porter, and Paddy McCarthy.
“James is gutted, he’s upset in there. He apologised to the group. There were other things that went on within the game as well that we need to address. It’s not just one man’s doing by far. We’re all in this together,” added Farrell.