‘They’re going to give it their all’ – Mack Hansen warns British & Irish Lions of potential banana skin
British & Irish Lions flyer Mack Hansen in action against Argentina.
British and Irish Lions speedster Mack Hansen is not underestimating the Western Force ahead of the teams’ eagerly anticipated encounter in Perth on Saturday.
After losing against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium last week, the famous touring team can ill afford another slip-up in their first tour match in Australia, but Hansen is wary of the potential banana skin which the Force will present to his side.
Excited to take on the Force
The 27-year-old has been named on the right wing for the Lions and is relishing the chance of taking on some familiar faces in the Force line-up.
Born and raised in Canberra, Hansen represented Australia at U20 level in 2018 and also featured for the Brumbies in 21 matches at Super Rugby level between 2018 and 2021, scoring 18 points during that period.
However, his world changed when he signed for Connacht ahead of the 2021/22 campaign, and he made his Ireland debut in 2022 as he qualified for his adopted country through his Irish mother.
He is now established in the Irish set-up and after some performing consistently well for the men from the Emerald Isle, he was named in the Lions squad to Australia and made his debut for Andy Farrell’s side in last week’s loss to Los Pumas.
Ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Force, Hansen issued a cautionary warning to his fellow tourists about the Brumbies’ victory over the Lions in Canberra twelve years ago.
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“I was at that Brumbies game with my dad and brother, and the Brumbies beat the Lions, so these things do happen,” he said.
“We were sitting behind the goalposts watching it. It was mad. You don’t expect anyone to actually do it, but I talked to guys after that, and they’d been pumped up for the game for weeks, working towards it.
‘There’s still a lot on the line for a lot of these teams’
“They saw it as the be-all and end-all. Also, guys are playing to try to get into the Wallabies as well, so there’s still a lot on the line for a lot of these teams.
“None of the games are going to be easy. Everyone wants to win – it’s not just us that want to win. We want to win every game, but the Force aren’t saying ‘all right boys, let’s go out and lose by 40’.
“They’ll be coming out thinking ‘we can cause an upset’. They’ve only got one game, then they’re on holiday.
“There will be this, then they’ll have 10 toes up for the next five weeks, so I’m sure they’re going to give it their all. When you get that time after time after time after time for however long we’re here, it will take its toll on us, but that’s a good thing.
“It makes us better and it makes the game more exciting.”
After starting their tour with that defeat against Argentina, Hansen knows that a Lions victory is imperative against the Force.
“We are four of the best teams and have some of the best players in the world. You should be winning every time, so every time it’s a loss that just isn’t good enough,” he said.
“That’s the best thing that this group has on its shoulders at the moment because we know that, and as disappointed as we were, we don’t want to feel that again.
“If anything, it’s good to feel it early, and then we know that we’ll get our heads absolutely chewed off if it happens again, so the plan is to win from here on out.
“A lot of the chat has been about us and what we need to improve. The only thing that can beat us is us really.”
