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You can take Mack Hansen out of Australia – but you can’t take the Aussie out of Mack Hansen.
The former Brumbies player – who has a emerged as a star for Grand Slam chasing world No.1 Test nation Ireland – has drawn on experiences in both countries in claiming “everybody hates England” ahead of this week’s Six Nations clash.
England travel to Dublin on Sunday fresh off a record loss to France, given little chance of stopping Ireland’s Grand Slam since 2018.
“I think everybody hates England in general! It’s something I was aware of [before coming to Ireland] for sure,” said the Australian-born Hansen who qualifies for the Irish through his mother.
Australia has a strong sporting rivalry with England but for the Irish the enmity runs deeper.
“There’s a fair bit of hatred, isn’t there? It’s good, though, because once the game is done they are good lads like everyone else. That shit happened… how long ago now? But it does add a bit of fire to the game. I was unlucky that I didn’t get to play last year, so fingers crossed I get to play next Saturday.”
(Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Hansen told reporters England’s big loss to France made it tougher for Ireland.
“The worst thing that could have happened for us was England getting pumped at home,” Hansen said.
“You just know they’re going to turn around. They’re a great side. It didn’t go their way against France, but they still have unreal players.
“We know they’re going to bounce back, we know they’re going to bring a lot of energy. It’ll be a completely different team to last weekend. But we want to play against the best and if they’re at their best then it’s going to be great, a good match.”
Hansen’s form in the past two seasons has led some Australian fans to wonder wistfully if he was the “one who got away” from the Wallabies, as the Irish embrace his talents.
Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui told Stan Sport that Hansen was underrated when he played in Australia.
“I don’t think he would have got picked here,” Turinui said. “That’s the stupidity of it. He wasn’t anywhere near it really. The chat was the Brumbies had their succession plan. They went to the other Super teams and said ‘who wants him’ and no one wanted him. Good footballer … but I wouldn’t have picked him to be this good at international level.”
Brumbies scrum half Ryan Lonergan, who is set to play his 50th game for the Brumbies against Moana Pasifika this weekend, has paid tribute to the team’s attack coach Rod Seib for the team’s excellent start to 2023.
Lonergan was the guest on The Roar Rugby Podcast this week and talked about his Wallabies ambitions as well as the return of coach Stephen Larkham, who gave Lonergan his debut with the club.
“It’s a little bit different from what Dan brought to the last couple of years and I’m really happy with how we started the year,” Lonergan said of Larkham’s arrival to replace Dan McKellar.
Asked about differences in approaches from McKellar to Larkham, Lonergan said: “Probably more just the messaging and the mentality around game day. The overall structure and scheduling has been pretty similar. He hasn’t come in and just completely wiped everything and started from scratch.
“I think it has been pretty easy because we’ve got our game plan and structure pretty well set for the last couple of years. So you know what you’re working with and come in and make changes based on that.
“You’ve got to give credit to Seiby the attack coach because he’s the one that’s designing all the plays and attacking structure – . through Bernie – but Seiby plays a huge role in our attacking shape. It’s just improving and improving every year, full credit to him.”
Ryan Lonergan. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Lonergan led Australia A to Japan at the end of 2022 and has had a brief discussion with Eddie Jones since he took over from Dave Rennie.
But the Brumbies No.9 was elusive when asked about Jones’ well publicised list of players he made while watching Super Round from the stands.
“I actually haven’t even looked at the list. Honestly, I haven’t. Mum was right into it! I don’t know what’s going on there, I don’t know if it’s mind games or anything so I didn’t look at it. I try to stay off the social side as much as a I can.”
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Crusaders with a third All Black sidelined from the team.
Prop Fletcher Newell will have foot surgery after suffering an injury against the Chiefs and joins Jack Goodhue and David Havili in the casualty ward for the champions, who slumped to a second loss from three games in Fiji over the weekend.
Lock Mitch Dunshea’s chest injury will see him miss his second straight season while Will Jordan is still yet to return since the Super Rugby final last year because of his ear issue.
The Crusaders are missing eight of the 23 who beat the Blues in the final last year ahead of this weekend’s grand final re-match.
The NSW Waratahs aren’t pushing the panic button despite their below-par start to the Super Rugby Pacific season after arriving with high expectations.
Prop Harry Johnson-Holmes said while two losses from three games, including their 34-27 defeat by Melbourne last round, wasn’t ideal, the mood in the side was still positive.
“For us, there’s things we can fix,” the 26-year-old said.
“If you just get out-and-out beaten because you’re not good enough, then that’s worrying, but for us there was a lot of things in our control so we’re excited to right those wrongs this weekend.”
He said quick ball from the Rebels put pressure on their defensive pattern – which will no doubt be tested by the fourth-ranked Hurricanes in Wellington in round four on Friday night.
Johnson-Holmes felt his side would be well prepared to tackle the Hurricanes after the Waratahs’ recent matches against Fijian Drua and Melbourne, a win and a loss respectively.
“If you combine the preparation we had to do for Fiji, to nullify offloads and expect the unexpected, versus the Rebels, who have a good way of playing that they like to stick to … the Hurricanes are probably a bit of a combination (of both) so I think we’re well prepared,” he said.
Johnson-Holmes said he was still working his way back to peak form after some “dark days” rehabilitating the ruptured achilles suffered in the Australian training camp last June.
He remains hopeful of forcing his way back into the Wallabies ahead of the World Cup in France later this year.
“It’s about building on it – it wasn’t an ideal return results wise and personally I’ve got a lot more that I can offer to the group so I’ve got to continue to get myself in the shape and condition to contribute to some wins,” he said.
NSW had three late withdrawals before the AAMI Park clash in winger Max Jorgensen (shoulder), hooker Dave Porecki (infection) and backrower Ned Hanigan (knee) but they are all expected to be available for the trip to New Zealand.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.