ANDY FARRELL believes Mack Hansen showed “what a Lion should do for his teammates” with one critical moment against the Western Force.
The Lions kicked off their tour of Australia with a 54-7 rout in Perth on Saturday afternoon.
Connacht winger Mack Hansen was one of eight Ireland players to start for Farrell, with Joe McCarthy, Garry Ringrose, and Dan Sheehan getting among the tries.
However, the Lions head coach singled out the Aussie-born star for contributing the “play of the day” late on.
After a Josh van der Flier error, the Force threatened to break away for a try.
Hansen charged back to gather position and kick clear, before chasing his own kick and forcing a knock-on and winning his side a try.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Farrell hailed: “There were some fantastic tries, weren’t there?
“But the play of the day, if you want to look what a Lion should do for his teammates was when Mack Hansen went up and down the field, end-to-end, never gave up, and fought for his teammate.
“That’s the type of spirit that we want throughout the team. So a nice example there.”
Hansen’s stellar showing from the start on Saturday came after he was brought on off the bench in the defeat to Argentina in Dublin.
And it came 12 years after he was watching the Lions from the stands, only on that occasion, he was cheering against the side he now represents.
The Canberra-raised ace was 15 when dad Craig took him to watch local outfit the Brumbies take on Warren Gatland’s side during the 2013 tour.
Hansen, who played for the Brumbies from 2018-2021, went wild in the stands as a Lions team including Ireland trio Rob Kearney, Seán O’Brien and Rory Best were downed 14-12.
The 27-year-old said: “It seems like an alternative universe. I remember the buzz around Australia and seeing these players you didn’t really get to see.
“It was amazing.
“I always loved the Lions and I didn’t know it would be something that I’d get to do — but I’m here and I’m enjoying it. It feels like I’m properly living the dream.
“We were sitting behind the goalposts watching it. It was mad.
“I talked to guys after that and they’d been pumped up for the game for weeks, working towards it.
“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.”
