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Ireland wing Mack Hansen. Ryan Byrne/INPHO

'I just thought I’m going to give it everything I've got, and play my style of footie'

Mack Hansen was worried about how he would adapt to international rugby, but the winger ‘has loved every second’ of his time in Ireland camp.

MACK HANSEN’S FIRST experiences in international rugby has allowed him tick a couple of big milestones off the bucket list. Test debut? Done. First Test try? Check. 

As significant as those moments were for a player who has quickly found his feet at international level, it has been the experience as a whole, rather than individual moments, which the 23-year-old will savour.

Test rugby had never really registered on Hansen’s radar. None of this was part of the grand plan, but some promising displays for the Brumbies led to an unexpected switch to Connacht. Just four months separated his Connacht debut and his first Ireland cap – a player of the match performance against Wales on the opening weekend of the Six Nations.

It’s been quite the ride.

“I’ll be honest with you mate, it wasn’t really until last year that it was a big thing in my mind to play international rugby,” Hansen explains.

“I always wanted to travel around the world and play in as many countries as I could and just get the most out of footy.

I switched my mindset around a little bit last year and I was a little bit worried coming in to camp. It is so long that it kind of throws a spanner in the works for your life for a fair amount of time – almost three months now – but I have loved every second of it.

“People always say that stuff but I genuinely do mean it. All the lads here are great fellas and it has been good in that when we’re on, we’re on, and when we get back to the hotel they do give us a lot of time to chill out and just get away from footy that little bit.

“It’s been good and something I haven’t been used to before. Most rugby camps I’ve been in have been footy, footy, footy the whole time and I think Andy (Farrell) and all the coaching staff have perfected how camps should be done because everybody does need that little breakaway.”

mack-hansen-and-nick-tompkins Hansen was player of the match on his Test debut against Wales. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

Keep up his good form and Hansen will see plenty more of the world with Ireland, his new status of Test international opening him up to new experiences and new countries. Hansen expands on his previous plan to travel the world as a club rugby player.

There was just a bit of a free spirit behind it. I just wanted to see as much as I could and get the most out of footy, but I’ve realised that international footy pretty much does that for you for free.

“I’ve already been to France, went to England and I’ve never been to England before, so it does take you around many, many places in the world and you just get to do it with a huge group of blokes, and it doesn’t get much more fun than that.”

Hansen starred against Wales, scored one of the tries of the tournament in France and delivered another productive outing against Italy, before dropping out of the matchday squad for last weekend’s trip to play England. He still made the journey over to experience Twickenham, soaking it all up from the stands, the continuous chorus of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot “starting to get on my nerves a little bit.”

mack-hansen-is-tackled-by-romain-ntamack Hansen scored a brilliant solo try against France. Dave Winter / INPHO Dave Winter / INPHO / INPHO

With Andrew Conway nursing a knee injury, Hansen comes back into the side for today’s meeting with Scotland in Dublin, a game which offers Ireland an opportunity to claim a first Triple Crown since 2018.

“At the start of the year I didn’t expect to be in the mix at all, so any game that I was playing was going to be super special for me and to have that week off (England) actually did give me more to reflect on and just know what I have to do week in and week out.

“I looked back at how I prepared the first couple of weeks and what was working for me and what wasn’t. I feel like it has refreshed me a little bit as well.”

Hansen’s laid back, easy going character perhaps undersells the competitor behind the scenes. You don’t climb the ladder in Irish rugby this quickly without putting in some serious work. 

The winger admits that maybe wasn’t always the case. There was a turning point at the Brumbies where his gametime started to increase, the extra minutes of high level rugby opening Hansen’s mind to the idea that he might have more to offer than he previously realised.  

I think I just started to back myself a lot more, it was getting to a point where I don’t know if I had that extra bit of confidence I have now. Ever since I left school, club rugby I was fine but I just felt I was really kicking on that extra step at Brumbies. Once I got a bit more time at Brumbies, I got an opportunity to show what I can do and maybe realised I am good enough to get there.

“The next step for me was coming over here and I just thought I’m going to give it everything I’ve got, and play my style of footie. And if works out it does, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. So it was definitely, yeah, a little bit of self belief.

“Being able to play a few more games at Brumbies, I thought I was having a pretty good season (last season), definitely gave me a bit more confidence that I was missing a little bit. But I think the extra step was maybe my second (Connacht) game against Bulls, I just felt like it was kind of a last chance so I was just going out and going to leave everything out there, and it ended up panning out for me. It just took off from there.” 

Today, Hansen will win his fourth Test cap for Ireland. He could end the evening as part of a Triple Crown-winning team. Events in Paris could even make him a Six Nations winner. Safe to say the move from Australia is working out pretty well. 

“End of the day, there is always going to be people who think you’re not good enough or aren’t going to be backing you in a full way,’ Hansen adds.

“None of that really matters as long as you back yourself and give it your all. That’s all you can do at the end of the day.” 

Ireland internationals Devin Toner and Lindsay Peat were our guests for The Front Row’s special live event, in partnership with Guinness, this week. The panel chats through Ireland’s championship chances ahead of the final round of Guinness Six Nations matches, and members of the Emerald Warriors – Ireland’s first LGBT+ inclusive rugby team – also join us to talk about breaking down barriers in rugby. Click here to subscribe or listen below:


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Ciarán Kennedy
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