"The beleaguered Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has ruefully admitted that the best Australian player on the pitch in his side's latest calamitous defeat was playing in Irish green. Mack Hansen, the ex-Brumby who grew up in Canberra and was snapped up by his mother's home country, scored his hat-trick of tries within the first half-hour to kickstart Ireland's record 46-19 win over Australia in Dublin on Saturday."
"Unfortunately, Mack was probably the standout Australian player on the field, Schmidt said ruefully about 27-year-old Hansen. The winger, who was injured during the Lions tour and only just returned from a niggling long-term foot injury, was razor-sharp all night against Australia as stand-in fullback. There's been a lot of talk that I wasn't born here and didn't grow up here but this feels like home, said man-of-the-match Hansen."
Australia lost 46-19 to Ireland in Dublin after Mack Hansen scored a first-half hat-trick within 30 minutes. The Wallabies committed countless handling errors in rain, produced sluggish attack, sloppy lineouts and struggled under aerial pressure. The defeat leaves Australia one loss from a winless European tour and threatens a poor finish to 2025, with potential five wins from 15 Tests and exclusion from top-six World Cup seeding. Joe Schmidt expressed rueful frustration as Hansen, an ex-Brumby raised in Canberra, was arguably Australia’s best player on the night while representing Ireland. Les Kiss will replace Schmidt next year.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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