The naked Lions tour wrestling where Mack Hansen was ‘worn like a glove’ and what it’s like when Andy Farrell ‘gets a bit sloppy from time to time’
Mack Hansen has revealed a treasure trove of rugby stories, including naked wrestling Ellis Genge, inset, on last year's British and Irish Lions tour
Mack Hansen has lifted the lid on moments of naked high jinks on the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour and also revealed what the Ireland squad is like with drinks on board, including head coach Andy Farrell.
The 28-year-old Connacht winger is currently recovering from foot surgery in December and has been appearing on a variety of shows to help pass the time. Last month, he popped up on KOKO, an Australian rugby podcast, with Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell and Adam Ashley-Cooper during a trip home for a wedding.
Now, he has invited For the Love of Rugby, fronted by ex-England duo Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, to join him in Galway for an hour-long interview that was filmed in a pub and was a very much no-holds-barred conversation.
Youngs and Cole had their homework done before the visit to Ireland, contacting Ellis Genge to get an inside track from the Lions tour on the player from Canberra, and the shenanigans began with the story about Hansen naked wrestling the England prop after he provoked him one time too many.
“Saw that look in his eye and knew I was in for a bit of trouble…”
“I don’t think Ellis was naked, but I was fully nude getting manhandled by Ellis Genge… It’s honestly haunts me to this day,” quipped Hansen. “You obviously think he is a d***head in your head, and then you meet him and yeah, he is still a d***head, but you love him.”
So how did the wrestling match materialise? “I was throwing a bit of fuel on the fire and testing him a bit. It flicked the switch. I saw that look in his eye and I knew I was in for a bit of trouble. And yeah, worn like a glove is probably pretty on par with what happened.”
Genge also served on the Lions fines committee and had also tipped Youngs and Cole off about another infamous incident where Hansen was left exposed. “All these stories are going to make me sound like a nudist,” he chuckled.
“That is the night I did my foot, and I wasn’t drinking either, which makes it worse that I was doing this completely sober. Jack Conan was the doctor, so he had a big doctor‘s coat on and I had a little sexy nurse’s outfit and it was pretty low cut, low cut enough that my penis was hanging down the bottom of it.
“So my penis was hanging out the whole time, which was a pretty good gag. The only person that refused, who didn’t want me to give him a shot, was Maro, ‘I’m alright, thanks’. There were a few guys taking shots off Jack. It was a good gag.”
Sticking with the Lions, Hansen revealed some of the people whose good-natured character he was surprised by. “I found Sione Tuipulotu just the funniest man. The way he speaks and tells stories is almost infectious.
“Once you meet him, you’d understand. He can really hold the room. The way he talks, I find it just hilarious. Who else did I think was a grump and then… no, in fairness everyone going in you just don’t know what you are going to get from. Then, do you, especially the English lads and whatnot? But no, everyone I got on with incredibly well. I don’t have a bad word to say about anyone.
“The character I didn’t expect to be was Pierre Schoeman; he’s the complete opposite of what you think he is going to be. He is like the biggest kid ever; he acts like a 10-year-old kid the whole time. It’s mental.”
Having dissected the Lions and spoken about some of the tour’s fun bus characters, Hansen switched to the goings-on within the Ireland camp, talking about going on the beer with his boss Farrell, naming assistant coach John Fogarty as the ‘King of Craic’ and revealing that Dan Sheehan is quite the drinker.
Asked if he had ever been on the p*** with Farrell, Hansen said: “I have, I’ve had the pleasure. I always gravitate to Faz once I’ve had a few beers as well. The coaching staff, in general, the whole coaching staff, Paulie (O’Connell), Fogs, Goody [Andrew Goodman] now, Johnny (Sexton) is in there now as well. Aled (Walters) is a legend. It’s the only way you can describe him.
“Once I have had a few, I am in there and you eventually get a tap on the shoulder, ‘Alright, f***in leave him alone now’. But then it picks up again. If anything, you can say it’s Faz’s Achilles heel. Not like he is a bad drunk, but you’d expect him to be able to drink all day and be completely fine, but once he has a few, he gets a bit sloppy from time to time. When he is in that mood as well, it’s very funny.
“One of the best people on the p*** is Fogs. John Fogarty is arguably one of the funniest men in the world. He just comes out with these crazy stories, first of all, but then his jokes and his comedic timing.
“You know, some people just always seem to hit the nail on the head with a joke or something, even a situation. That’s why Fogs is the King of Craic, we say, because every morning his whole job is to get the energy up, get people going, and there is no better man for it. He’s a funny man.”
Sticking with the drinking theme, Hansen then brought up the name of hooker Sheehan when asked who is the Ireland team’s biggest drinker is. “It’s definitely not me. I’m unfortunately a terrible drunk. That’s probably why I have got so many stories. Dan Sheehan can send them back, I’d say him.
“He can really send them. He’ll get to a point where he is pretty hammered, but it would take a while to get there, and he is a quick drinker too. His old man is one of the most impressive drinkers I have ever seen.
“He brought him to the World Rugby Awards in Monaco and this is the perfect story to describe them. He bought us two beers each straight away, two Asahi, so I am getting through mine and I have like my first sip and Barry has finished his completely.
“So, getting through his second and that’s gone in no time, and I get just down to the end of my first drink and looking for my second and Barry has polished off. He’s like, ‘You’re too slow, mate, too slow’. He had three drinks just before I had finished one, so it has just carried down through the generations.”
Which player brings the energy to the Ireland team? “Craig Casey is just a ball of energy. I’ll give it to Craig. He is always just incredibly hyper. He has the energy of a six-year-old kid. He is just like bopping around the place, never in bad form. I’m convinced he doesn’t sleep either. I think, honestly, he is awake 24/7 and it doesn’t bother him at all. It’s mad.”
Dancing was the next topic, with the question of who is first on the dance floor? “It used to be Pete O’Mahony. He has got one move. I’ll try and do it for you. He always does this, eyes closed, banging the foot down. So that Pete back in the day. I don’t think we have anyone taking control at the moment, but once that foot starts tapping, Pete’s in fine form.
“I reckon people have such a wrong idea of what Pete is. Don’t get me wrong, he is a grump, and there’s no denying that, but if you catch him at the right time, he would be the guy who, before Craig, would have brought the energy, like, ‘Let’s go out, let’s do this’.
“He’s some man, Pete, and he is very witty when he wants to be, when he is not being an angry arsehole. He is a nice guy, a nice, lovely guy. He’d thrive under the lights of having his own gardening TV show.”
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Hansen finished by talking about on-field rivalries. “It does then become so personal leading up to the weeks when we are playing South Africa, New Zealand… It’s like anyone in rugby, they are good fellas, you get on with them, they are great blokes, but leading up to that week you despise them and you’re like, ‘These are some of the worst people in the world at this moment… I honestly hate their guts’ and then once it’s finished, it’s done.
“That’s what is good about it, a bit of passion and a bit of intensity just adds to the game. Like when you know two teams just genuinely dislike each other, you give it your everything. We have a few teams like that at the moment that hate us. Probably like Scotland, there is a bit of a thing going on there.
“Whenever we are playing them, they are normally on a bit of a roll and we are locked into it and we dislike them and we want to f***ing beat them, we don’t want them to get one over on us. That’s a testament to them.
“And again, all the Scottish lads, funny enough, I actually get on with really well. Duhan van der Merwe, if we are going back to it, is one of the funniest people ever as well, and he is one I didn’t expect. He has just got the driest, angriest sense of humour. I just think he is hilarious, such a good fella. It adds a lot to you as a person, I reckon, when you have those rivalries going into a game.”
