Dublin: An Australian player picked up a prestigious World Rugby nomination on Monday as one of four men’s breakthrough players of the year.
The only problem is that he is playing for Ireland against the Wallabies this weekend.
Is Mack Hansen, the former Brumbies winger, the one that got away from Australian rugby?
“Yeah, I think so,” conceded Hansen’s former Brumbies coach, Dan McKellar, now an assistant with the Wallabies.
“He’s always been that player that had that potential to kick on. You’re happy for the individual. You’re disappointed he’s wearing green this weekend and he’s not wearing gold. That was the career path that he took and others do the same.
“I think if you asked Mack if he was going to be playing for Ireland six to 12 months into that experience, he probably would have laughed.”
Mack Hansen has been on fire for Ireland. Credit:Getty
Understanding how Hansen slipped through the cracks of those to turn his back on a potential Wallabies opportunity and start a Test career with Ireland that is already going from strength to strength is complicated.
Make no mistake, the Brumbies wanted to keep Hansen. The Canberran, who grew up in the nation’s capital, simply wanted a new life experience.
Hansen played 14 Super Rugby games for the Brumbies across four years. He was behind Tom Banks, Tom Wright, Andy Muirhead, James Dargaville and Solomone Kata in the back three pecking order.
As the Herald reported earlier this year, Hansen was offered to four other Super Rugby franchises.
None came back with a substantial offer for him to remain in Australia.
So, with a mother’s Irish birth certificate to utilise, Hansen jetted off to Connacht to join former Australian men’s sevens coach Andy Friend, who had also been in charge of the Brumbies.
Hansen and Friend’s son were mates — they would often drink at the same pub in Canberra — which helped the process.
From there, Hansen had a great debut against Wales, before scoring a sensational try a week later against France.
As far as meteoric rises go at Test level, Hansen’s has been hard to top in a side that is now No.1 in the world.
Hansen joins Henry Arundell (England), Ange Capuozzo (Italy) and Dan Sheehan (Ireland) as World Rugby’s four breakout men’s players (15s) of 2022.
“He’s a good mate, a good man … and a really loveable character,” McKellar said.
“I remember the first time he came in and saw me and said he was going to Connacht, having spent time in Ireland myself, I knew he’d love Ireland and they’ve loved him. He’s come over here and earned their respect through his performances. He’s really kicked on and he’s a different player to what the Irish are probably used to.
“The first time I saw Mack he was a 17-year-old out of school. You could tell he was a natural footballer. He’s a winger but he gets in at first receiver and he distributes. He often will throw a pass that creates a line break or a try assist. He’ll score them as well. It was sad to see him go.
“Happy for him, but hopefully we keep him quiet on Saturday.”
A reporter who entered the McKellar press conference late asked whether the subject of Hansen had already been raised.
“We spoke about the great Mack Hansen,” McKellar said with a laugh. “We’re not going to give him any more time, his head’s big enough as it is.”
There is another Canberran in Ireland’s ranks.
Finlay Bealham is another Canberra-born player with the world’s No.1 Test side.Credit:Getty
Finlay Bealham, a 31-year-old prop, has played 26 Tests for Ireland since his 2016 debut and is likely to come off the bench at Aviva Stadium.
“The first year I coached Tuggeranong Vikings, I was there for probably about a month and there was a young tight-head prop there,” said McKellar of Bealham. “He played a lot of second grade. He came into my office and said ‘I’ve got a chance to go to the academy at Connacht’ and I said ‘jump at it’.
“Again, what a progression for him and he’s developed into a really good international tight-head prop and forged out a pretty impressive career over here. They’re two Canberra boys that I know well and am pleased for them.”
Meanwhile, a number of other Australians have been nominated for World Rugby awards.
Sevens players Maddison Levi, Charlotte Caslick, Faith Nathan, Nick Malouf and Corey Toole have been acknowledged for their outstanding performances this season, while the Wallabies’ remarkable 95-metre five-pointer against France in Paris, finished off by Lalakai Foketi, has been nominated for try of the year.
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