Mack Hansen leads Keith Earls tributes with brilliant new haircut and colour

Jared Wright
Ireland winger Mack Hansen sporting a new haircut in tribute to Keith Earls ahead of the Rugby World Cup warm-up against England

Ireland winger Mack Hansen sporting a new haircut in tribute to Keith Earls.

Ireland winger Mack Hansen is leading the tributes for Keith Earls, who earns his 100th Test match this weekend, in his own unique way.

Earls has been named the bench for Ireland’s Rugby World Cup warm-up match against England at the Aviva Stadium.

The veteran Munster back earned his Test debut against Canada in 2008 and is to become the ninth Ireland player to reach the landmark.

Mack Hansen’s new hairstyle

To celebrate the occasion, Hansen has died his hair green and shaved Earls’ initials ‘KE’ into the side of his head.

The winger also shaved ‘100’ into the back of his head as another nod to the Ireland veteran.

Hansen is certainly an interesting character and has become renowned for his humourous interviews, facial hair and haircuts.

As highlighted by EK Rugby, who shared this picture of the winger sporting this unique beard during his time with the Brumbies.

For Earls, he feared that he would never reach the milestone following a tough run of injuries.

In July last year, Earls earned his 98th Test cap against the All Blacks in New Zealand and looked set to hit the landmark before the end of the year.

However, he was ruled out of the November internationals and, this year, Six Nations due to his setbacks.

A torn groin in the URC draw with the Sharks looked to all but end his hopes, but the injury was not as bad as initially feared, meaning he returned a few weeks later to help Munster lift the URC title.

After his injury struggles, Earls admitted that he didn’t think that he would notch up his century.

“To be honest with you, I’d given up coming home on the plane,” he said on the injury sustained in Durban against the Sharks.

“I knew it was a bad one, and I got the scan, and we got the results, and I was like, ‘That’s it, I’m not going to be able to get enough games under my belt for Andy to pick me to get into the squad’. I was just like, ‘I’m going to fizzle out here’.

“Especially with the talent coming through and the way some of the lads are playing and my injury history last year.”

Conor Murray pays tribute to Earls

Conor Murray, who reached 100 caps in the autumn, told the IRFU: “What a man!

“Going into school, looking up to him, he was a superstar of schools’ rugby, and I’m blessed to be able to call him a really good friend and share part of his journey with him.

“Rooming with him for the last 10 odd years, I’ve seen the crazy sides to Keith Earls.

“This is a really popular landmark, and everyone in the squad is absolutely delighted for him.”

Ireland Test centurions

Brian O’Driscoll (133)
Ronan O’Gara (128)
Cian Healy (124)
Rory Best (124)
Johnny Sexton (113)
Paul O’Connell (108)
John Hayes (105)
Conor Murray (105)

READ MORE: World Rugby rankings: Ireland put top spot on the line as Fiji eye new high

Internationals Keith Earls Mack Hansen

Related Articles