EVEN THOUGH HE had established himself as a key man for Ireland in 2022 and 2023, showing that he was a proper international wing, Mack Hansen had worries as he watched on from the outside in the second half of last season.
A shoulder injury on New Year’s Day meant his 2023/24 campaign was over and so, Hansen was sidelined as Calvin Nash stepped into the number 14 jersey and helped Ireland to defend their Six Nations title.
Hansen was at home as Ireland went on to win a Test in South Africa. He was happy for his team-mates alright, but he found himself concerned about getting back into the green jersey even when fit.
That’s why he felt a sense of relief when Andy Farrell named him on the right wing last week as Hansen made his comeback for Ireland against the All Blacks.
“You get to a period of being injured, especially as long as I was, that you never know if you’re going to get the opportunity again,” said Hansen yesterday.
“Things like that kind of go through your head especially with the way the guys were playing, still winning Six Nations and winning tours like when I was away and stuff.
“A lot of guys really stepped up and played great, like Nashy and Jamie [Obsborne] and those sort of guys coming through. So yeah things like that do go through your head and to get it again was just it was another dream come true almost.”
The nerves kicked in for Hansen, who felt a little like he was winning his first cap all over again, while there was a bit of extra emotion because his parents, Diana and Craig, were in Dublin to watch him.
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Hansen before the New Zealand game. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
They’ve been up in the wee hours many, many times to watch him on TV in recent years, so this third visit to Ireland to see him play in the flesh was very welcome.
“They were meant to surprise me but they needed tickets so they had to tell me that they were coming over,” said Hansen.
“I haven’t seen them in a good while so it was brilliant to see mom and dad.
“I’ve almost been here four years now. They try and make it over whenever they can.”
The pity was that the Hansens didn’t get to see their son in a winning Ireland team last Friday, the All Blacks earning a deserved win on a night when things didn’t go well for Andy Farrell’s side.
Hansen was able to get involved early in the game, enjoying a couple of touches as he resumed his previous role as a first receiver for Ireland, that playmaking ability giving him a point of difference over other wings.
But thereafter, Hansen found it a frustrating game on a personal level.
“I found it was a pretty hard game for me to get into as a winger. I felt sort of every time I tried to get involved and get a hand on the ball, it just seemed to fall apart a little bit. But you get games like that, unfortunately.
“I tried to flip my mindset a bit and just try and get my hands on the ball as much as I could. I feel like I did that in the last 10/15 maybe a little bit more involved but now I’m working on doing that for the whole 80. It felt like it just didn’t come my way, sort of.”
Hansen will be hoping for more touches this Friday against Argentina as he continues to build back towards his best form.
He’ll be hoping to make a big impact in the air given that a new directive to referees regarding obstruction on kick chasers has suddenly opened up one-on-one aerial contests in a huge way. Hansen himself was close to coming up with a couple of big wins under kicks last weekend.
Hansen competes with Will Jordan. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s a real 50/50 on who’s going to be getting it,” said Hansen of the change.
“It’s exciting for both ways. When I’m receiving it, obviously I want to be going up and winning those balls but then it gives me a really good chance to go and destruct their ball as well.
“It’s not like it’s a real one-sided thing, it’s both teams just competing and I think it’s going to be exciting to see these aerial spectacles going on through-out the weeks.”
There’s a familiar face in the Argentina back three corps this week in Hansen’s Connacht team-mate, Santiago Cordero, who scored a try off the bench in their win against Italy last weekend.
“I haven’t talked to him this week, to be honest,” said Hansen. “I don’t know if I will either!
“I was watching some of the things that Argentina were giving him to stay fit before he was going back into camp and stuff like that. It looks like they’ve been getting put through the absolute wringer, like some of the things he was doing were fairly grim. So I think Felipe’s come in and made a real precedence of them being a fit team and also a team that from 1 to 15 can all ball-play and fling it wide and can play that style of rugby.
“It’s an exciting challenge to come up against. It’s not like you come into a team where you know you’re going to win at all to come off a loss and then come into the Aviva against a team like this, I think we’re excited for the challenge more than anything.”
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Hansen embraces Ireland return in front of his visiting parents
EVEN THOUGH HE had established himself as a key man for Ireland in 2022 and 2023, showing that he was a proper international wing, Mack Hansen had worries as he watched on from the outside in the second half of last season.
A shoulder injury on New Year’s Day meant his 2023/24 campaign was over and so, Hansen was sidelined as Calvin Nash stepped into the number 14 jersey and helped Ireland to defend their Six Nations title.
Hansen was at home as Ireland went on to win a Test in South Africa. He was happy for his team-mates alright, but he found himself concerned about getting back into the green jersey even when fit.
That’s why he felt a sense of relief when Andy Farrell named him on the right wing last week as Hansen made his comeback for Ireland against the All Blacks.
“You get to a period of being injured, especially as long as I was, that you never know if you’re going to get the opportunity again,” said Hansen yesterday.
“Things like that kind of go through your head especially with the way the guys were playing, still winning Six Nations and winning tours like when I was away and stuff.
“A lot of guys really stepped up and played great, like Nashy and Jamie [Obsborne] and those sort of guys coming through. So yeah things like that do go through your head and to get it again was just it was another dream come true almost.”
The nerves kicked in for Hansen, who felt a little like he was winning his first cap all over again, while there was a bit of extra emotion because his parents, Diana and Craig, were in Dublin to watch him.
They’ve been up in the wee hours many, many times to watch him on TV in recent years, so this third visit to Ireland to see him play in the flesh was very welcome.
“They were meant to surprise me but they needed tickets so they had to tell me that they were coming over,” said Hansen.
“I haven’t seen them in a good while so it was brilliant to see mom and dad.
“I’ve almost been here four years now. They try and make it over whenever they can.”
The pity was that the Hansens didn’t get to see their son in a winning Ireland team last Friday, the All Blacks earning a deserved win on a night when things didn’t go well for Andy Farrell’s side.
Hansen was able to get involved early in the game, enjoying a couple of touches as he resumed his previous role as a first receiver for Ireland, that playmaking ability giving him a point of difference over other wings.
But thereafter, Hansen found it a frustrating game on a personal level.
“I found it was a pretty hard game for me to get into as a winger. I felt sort of every time I tried to get involved and get a hand on the ball, it just seemed to fall apart a little bit. But you get games like that, unfortunately.
“I tried to flip my mindset a bit and just try and get my hands on the ball as much as I could. I feel like I did that in the last 10/15 maybe a little bit more involved but now I’m working on doing that for the whole 80. It felt like it just didn’t come my way, sort of.”
Hansen will be hoping for more touches this Friday against Argentina as he continues to build back towards his best form.
He’ll be hoping to make a big impact in the air given that a new directive to referees regarding obstruction on kick chasers has suddenly opened up one-on-one aerial contests in a huge way. Hansen himself was close to coming up with a couple of big wins under kicks last weekend.
“It’s a real 50/50 on who’s going to be getting it,” said Hansen of the change.
“It’s exciting for both ways. When I’m receiving it, obviously I want to be going up and winning those balls but then it gives me a really good chance to go and destruct their ball as well.
“It’s not like it’s a real one-sided thing, it’s both teams just competing and I think it’s going to be exciting to see these aerial spectacles going on through-out the weeks.”
There’s a familiar face in the Argentina back three corps this week in Hansen’s Connacht team-mate, Santiago Cordero, who scored a try off the bench in their win against Italy last weekend.
“I haven’t talked to him this week, to be honest,” said Hansen. “I don’t know if I will either!
“I was watching some of the things that Argentina were giving him to stay fit before he was going back into camp and stuff like that. It looks like they’ve been getting put through the absolute wringer, like some of the things he was doing were fairly grim. So I think Felipe’s come in and made a real precedence of them being a fit team and also a team that from 1 to 15 can all ball-play and fling it wide and can play that style of rugby.
“It’s an exciting challenge to come up against. It’s not like you come into a team where you know you’re going to win at all to come off a loss and then come into the Aviva against a team like this, I think we’re excited for the challenge more than anything.”
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All Blacks Ireland Mack Hansen New Zealand return of the mack