Ireland rugby star Mack Hansen has offered his condolences to the families of Andrew O'Donnell and Max Wall, and Greig Oliver in the wake of their tragic deaths.
Last week, two 18-year-old students, Andrew O'Donnell and Max Wall, from St. Michael's College, occurred on the Greek island of Ios. Six members of the U20s squad, who are currently playing the U20 World Rugby Championship, have come from the same Dublin college as the two teenagers.
In addition, the tournament was overshadowed by the untimely passing of Greig Oliver, the father of Ireland scrum-half Jack, who died in a paragliding accident while in Cape Town.
The Munster coach joined Munster in 2011 and was in South Africa to visit his son Jack Oliver, who is part of Ireland's u20 World Rugby Under-20 Championship playing squad.
A former director of rugby with Garryowen, Greig Oliver served as an assistant coach of the Ireland U20 team from 2011 to 2014. As a player, he earned three caps for Scotland, featuring in both the 1987 and 1991 World Cups.
A number of tributes have already been paid to the families since the tragedies. Hansen, speaking to the Irish Post this week, added his own prayers and thoughts on the dreadful circumstances.
"We were in camp when the news broke, seeing the posts all over Instagram and everything else. You can tell he meant a lot to people there,' said the Ireland winger and Canterbury ambassador. "Prayers go out to him, his family, and son (Jack Oliver), who is one of the Ireland players at the tournament"
MacK Hansen at the launch of the new Canterbury boot 'Speed-Infinite-Elite'(Photo credit Canterbury)
Jack Oliver was set to play against Fiji in the U20 Championship clash on Tuesday but was replaced by Paddy McCarthy on Ireland's bench after his father's tragic death last weekend. There had been talk of the game being called off, but the Irish players went ahead with the final pool fixture.
Both Fiji and Ireland observed a minute's silence before kick-off, and the visibly emotional Ireland players wore black armbands as a sign of respect.
Prior to the game, Fiji's captain, Moti Murray, also presented Ireland's skipper, Diarmuid Mangan, with a jersey in the center circle as a mark of solidarity.
Despite the challenging circumstances, Ireland emerged victorious with a score of 47-27 against Fiji in Stellenbosch.
Hansen commended the Ireland players for going ahead with the fixture despite the difficult circumstances surrounding the game.
"How they ended up playing is incredible, and it takes a lot of guts to do something like that. It's been very heavy, especially freak accidents like that. It is something you never want to hear. It's just damn awful, isn't it?" said Hansen at the launch of Canterbury's new boot, 'The Speed Infinite Elite'."
For more details on the new 'Speed Infinite Elites,' click here.
The Ireland u20s will play France on Friday in the final of the u20 World Rugby Championship. The game kicks off at 18.00.
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