Four years ago Mack Hansen was awaiting the offer of a new contract from the Brumbies when he received a call from Andy Friend asking him if he would be interested in joining Connacht. Talk about a sliding doors moment.
This week Hansen is back in his home city of Canberra, where he was reared by his Aussie dad and Cork-born mother. On Wednesday, having won 28 caps for Ireland, he will be sprung from the bench at the GIO Stadium in the red of the Lions against the team which fatefully dilly-dallied about offering him a new contract.
[ Lions v Brumbies: Andy Farrell names eight Irish players in starting line-upOpens in new window ]
“It is incredible. It is a bit of a pinch-me moment. Not in my wildest dreams could I imagine I would be back here playing for the Lions. It is very special.”
Hansen was a 15-year-old fan among the crowd in 2013 when the Brumbies became the first Australian provincial side to beat the Lions in 40 years.
RM Block
“I was there that day and I know how much it meant to everyone around here and how much they will be getting up for it.”
Now he’s a bona fide Irishman who describes his decision to join Connacht as the best of his life.
“I’ve got about thirty friends and family going (to Wednesday’s game) apparently. I’ve had people coming out of the woodworks for tickets for a while now, so I’ve handed mine off to my family. I’ve got a good few people coming out.”
Nor can there be any split allegiances among the extended Hansen clan about where their loyalties lie.
“With the Lions, mate, with the Lions I’m sure,” he said when asked what side his contingent will be cheering for.
“They better be anyway. I’m expecting them to be wearing red, so if not they won’t be getting tickets.”
Although returning to Canberra for the first time in over two years must be somewhat surreal, Hansen’s sight is set beyond this game.
“Regardless of whether I’ve played this game or not, it’s obviously special to be playing it, but this isn’t the one you want to be in for. You want to be putting your name towards the Tests, so that’s all I’m focused on for this game anyway.”
Having started against Western Force and the Waratahs, as well as featuring off the bench against Argentina in Dublin, this will be Hansen’s fourth appearance for the Lions.
“I think on the weekend (against the Waratahs) it was a little bit tougher, but I think as a group we’re gelling really well and everybody’s really starting to buy in and really getting the way that we want to flow in attack and the way that we want to stop teams in defence. Everyone’s just really starting to bond as a unit and I think that’s shown on the field.”
Against the Brumbies, Hansen will be up against former team-mates from his school days, such as the Lonergans, Ryan and Lachlan.
“It’ll be good. I grew up playing against them my whole life, so it’ll be nice. They’re two of my best mates especially, so to play against them again, I haven’t played against them in a while, that’ll be a nice little switch-up.”
He adds: “It’s going to be interesting. I don’t know how I’m going to feel until I’m out on the field and it won’t be until afterwards that I’ll be able to take it all in.
“It’s going to be a great moment for myself and my family. Playing against my friends is going to be cool.”
The bond between Hansen and head coach Andy Farrell – a portrait of whom is among the 27-year-old’s vast tattoo collection – was palpable as they faced the media in the Lions latest hotel base in the Australian capital.
“For everything that you see of Mack, personality-wise, he is a brilliant professional,” said Farrell after Hansen had left the room.
“He studies the game, he tries to understand it from all sorts of different ways and he’s a massive contributor in trying to help the team get better as well and that’s because he does his homework.
“So wherever he’s got in that space of time is because of the hard work that you guys don’t see behind the scenes. He really cares about his preparation, he’s constantly inquisitive in regards to asking the right questions to want to get better and he’s a proper team player.
“When you’re speaking up quite a bit, which he actually does speak up quite a bit, it makes you take on a little bit more responsibility, and he definitely does that.”
