'Weird': Canberra's Irish export Mack Hansen leaves interviewers in stitches as Lions down gutsy Brumbies
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The Return of the Mack was a winning one in Canberra on Wednesday night.
Mack Hansen, the fringe utility back from the ACT Brumbies, has developed into a superstar winger with Ireland and the 27-year-old made the unlikeliest of returns to chilly GIO Stadium with the British and Irish Lions.
The Lions, fielding what is expected to be very close to their first Test team, downed a Brumbies team missing eight Wallabies 36-24 to complete a clean sweep of the Australian Super Rugby teams.
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Mack Hansen cracks up the Stan crew. Stan
And Hansen described the whole experience as "weird."
"A little bit emotional, to be fair with you," he told Stan Sport.
The Daramalan College product had his parents in the stands and revealed that they paid for their own tickets, not knowing if he would play.
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A humorous, quirky personality who moved to Galway in 2021, Hansen had things to say about his home town.
"It's changed a lot actually, Canberra," he noted.
"I don't think people would really associate that with Canberra, change. There's all these new buildings there, it actually has blown me away. Mental, yeah.
Garry Ringrose of British & Irish Lions celebrates with teammate Tom Curry after scoring a try. Getty
"I actually put in a few recommendations to the lads throughout the week, and I'm pretty sure all my recommendations were closed down or just not there anymore. It wasn't very helpful."
Hansen described man of the match Lions halfback Jamison Gibson-Park as a "joke" and a "fiery little bastard" in the entertaining chat.
"When I first went over to Galway, I was expecting that there wouldn't be any light bulbs at all. Be like candlelight and stuff like that.
"Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was going to get, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got over there. I love Galway now."
The Brumbies had shocked the Lions in their previous meeting in 2013 but never seriously threatened a repeat.
They were very competitive, however, and fullback Andy Muirhead epitomised their spirit by freakishly preventing tries to James Lowe and Ollie Chessum.
The Lions are now 4-0 since a 28-24 loss to Argentina in a warmup in Dublin before travelling Down Under for a nine game tour that has kicked off with wins over all of Australia's Super Rugby franchises.
"The Brumbies challenged us throughout the whole game, you know, it was a hotly contested game," Lions captain Maro Itoje said.
"But yeah, another step in the right direction. We need to be a bit more accurate in the opposition 22, but I think it's a step forward."
The Brumbies edged the Lions on their last tour to Australia in 2013 and were a handful again, but lacked the size and depth this time to repeat that upset.
Big blindside flanker Ollie Chessum scored the first try for the Lions and had one disallowed after fulltime.
Flyhalf Finn Russell had a successful night with the boot and combined solidly with Jamison Gibson-Park in what will be a likely Lions halves combination in the Test series starting on July 19.
Again, it was a grafting first half.
The Lions had more than two-thirds of field position and 60 per cent of the ball but struggled to get away from the Brumbies until a try to Marcus Smith after the halftime siren gave them a 19-10 lead at the break.
Henry Pollock of British & Irish Lions is tackled by Andy Muirhead of the ACT Brumbies. Getty
The Lions scored three tries and conceded two in the first half, and had one held up over the line, and looked good spreading the ball to the edges, but lacked some cohesion at crucial times.
Centre Garry Ringrose played a vital role in the first try of the second half, running into a gap in the midfield and then chasing through to pounce on Marcus Smith's downfield kick as it went into the in goal to extend the Lions' lead.
The Brumbies hit back again in the 51st minute with Hudson Creighton charging onto a pass on the shortside after a 5m scrum to close the gap to 26-17.
Hudson Creighton of the Brumbies celebrates scoring a try with teammates. Getty
Replacement backrower Josh van der Flier had a try disallowed by the TMO before the Lions took a penalty goal — their first of the tour — to extend the margin to 12 points.
Six minutes later, Van der Flier drove over from a maul in similar circumstances and it was awarded this time, giving the Lions a match-sealing 36-17 lead.
The Brumbies tested the Lions' defence, the home team scoring both times they got into the attacking quarter in the first 40 minutes.
No.8 Tuaina Taii Tualima scored the opening try in the fourth minute for the Brumbies, picking up from the base of the ruck and slamming the ball down on the tryline after a series of rucks on the Lions line.
The Lions made early breaks but couldn't convert, with Bundee Aki throwing a pass over the sideline in an attacking miscue. He made amends by playing a key role in the buildup for flanker Chessum's equaliser in the 15th minute.
In the 23rd minute, winger James Lowe crossed in the left corner but was somehow held up over the line by Muirhead.
Andy Muirhead denies James Lowe. Stan
Lowe made up for it six minutes later when he slid over out wide after the Lions utilised an overlap with hooker Dan Sheehan roving in the backline.
Russell converted for 12-5 but the Brumbies hit back quickly, moving the ball from a lineout and exploiting a penalty advantage when Ben O'Donnell threw a long, floating pass wide for speedster Corey Toole to score untouched.
The Brumbies again missed the conversion and there was only two points difference until seconds from halftime, when Smith finished off a counter-attacking try from the Brumbies' short, goal line drop out.
The Lions will now play the combined AUNZ invitational squad on Saturday in Adelaide in their final preparation for the Test series.
They will be sweating on the fitness of fullback Blair Kinghorn, who left the game with a knee in the first half.
It leaves Irishman Hugo Keenan as the only fully fit specialist fullback in the squad after Elliot Daly broke his left arm.
"I thought we played some great stuff at times," Lions coach Andy Farrell said.
"If you look at the story of the game, probably field position and game understanding, some good dominance there and scoring some nice tries.
"But on the flip side, I thought we got a little bit loose at times and kept inviting the Brumbies back in the game and they were good enough to take a few scores."
