By JOHN FALLON

CONNACHT return to URC action this weekend when they take on the Sharks at Dexcom Stadium on Saturday evening (7.45pm) in what will be the first of ten games in a row to the end of January.

They have ground to make up, too, as just one win from their opening four league games sees them in the bottom half of the table, albeit with a game less played following the postponement of their match against a Scarlets side in early October who have not picked up a single point in four URC matches.

The five points which Connacht would surely have picked up in that home match would have them in the top half and on course for a knockout place — the top eight in the 16-team league go into the quarter-finals.

Senior assistant coach Rod Seib said they know they need to start picking up league points and Saturday’s clash against the Durban outfit gives them a chance given that Springboks such as skipper Siyi Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi, Ethan Hooker and Andre Esterhuizen will be on duty for South Africa against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

“We do recognise we haven’t had enough wins this season, so in terms of setting something up to build momentum, it is not lost on the group how important this fixture is,” said Seib.

“It’s been a timely break, and now we’re looking to start well this weekend against the Sharks and build momentum through Christmas.

“From my point of view, it hasn’t been a long break. It’s been a great opportunity to have those meetings with players, to have those one-on-one discussions. We’ve had a little bit of exposure to real competition, so now we know where we need to improve.”

Connacht are waiting on the results of scans to establish the extent of the hand and foot injuries which have ruled Mack Hansen out of this weekend’s clash but the indications are that he will not return to action for some time until all are fully sorted.

Hansen told Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster and his coaching team that he wanted to return to action for the province straight after the autumn internationals after a couple of injury-disrupted years at the Sportsground.

But the hand injury picked up in training last week with the national squad and a recurrence of the foot injury during the loss to South Africa on Saturday which had ruled him out of all three Lions tests against his native Australia during the summer, have put paid to that.

Seib, who had coached Hansen when they were at the Brumbies, said they needed to sort out all injury issues and try to prevent the stop-start nature of his career with the province and Ireland in the past few years.

Injuries and international duty has meant that Hansen has played just four games for Connacht so far in 2025. He made nine appearances in total last season for Connacht, while the previous season there were just four games, having played 14 in each of his first two seasons in Galway.

He suffered a recurrence of the foot injury when scoring a late try against the Bulls in October in what has been his only game so far this season for Connacht.

Understandably, Seib and Connacht want to get the 27-year old back to full health before risking him again.

“You don’t want to have a patchy season of in and out all the time and trying to balance his Ireland commitments with Connacht’s,” said Seib.

“It’s something that’s to the forefront of our mind so we want to make sure he has a good opportunity to be at his best for Ireland but also at his best for us. It will be a bit of a balancing act but hopefully he’ll be on the selection table soon because he is terribly important to us.”

Seib said that Hansen, who has made 42 appearances for Connacht (14 tries) and 30 for Ireland (15 tries) since arriving four years ago, is frustrated at another spell on the sideline

“He’s been frustrated because he hasn’t had a run of games,” added Seib. “I know prior to the weekend he was keen to come back to Connacht and get straight back in. He didn’t want to have a break, he was keen to get a run of games under his belt.”

Bundee Aki and the other Connacht players who were in the Irish squad for the autumn internationals — Finlay Bealham, Cian Prendergast, Caolin Blade and Darragh Murray — are all back training and are available for this weekend’s home clash with the Sharks.

Connacht will travel to take on the Ospreys in the Challenge Cup the following weekend before hosting Black Lion from Georgia a week later, so they might decide to go fully loaded this weekend.

Pictured: Connacht’s Mack Hansen who faces another period on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of his foot injury in Saturday’s bruising November International against South Africa.