'I made some lifelong memories': Ireland wing Mack Hansen reflects on World Cup
Ireland's World Cup campaign may not have gone the way they wanted, but winger Mack Hansen has said he made some "memories I'm going to have for the rest of my life" during an "unbelievable experience" in France.
Hansen and his teammates arrived at the World Cup as world number ones and many people's favourites for the tournament, particularly after beating eventual champions South Africa in the pool stages. While they fell short of their target, losing to the All Blacks in the quarter-finals, Andy Farrell's side left an indelible mark on the tournament not only with their performances but with the atmosphere that was created.
Speaking to Connacht's social media team recently, the 25-year-old reflected on the campaign and the support Ireland received, describing it as an "unbelievable experience". He did also look back on the epic quarter-final loss to eventual finalists the All Blacks, saying it was "fair play to them".
"Look, it was a disappointing end," the Australian-born winger said. "We lost to a good All Blacks team so it was fair play to them, but it's memories I'm going to have for the rest of my life. The support and everybody coming over, it was just incredible. It was unbelievable.
"It was unreal. It was it was such an experience. It's almost weird coming back from being with people 24/7 to coming back home to almost an empty house, it was strange enough. But look, there's worse things that can happen. But I made some lifelong memories and a lot of those guys are some of my best mates now, as well. It was just an absolutely unbelievable experience.
While Hansen has been at Connacht's games since returning from the World Cup, he is yet to feature this season. In his absence though, his clubmates have made an unbeaten start to the United Rugby Championship season, the only team to do so, and are therefore top of the standings ahead of facing Edinburgh this Saturday.
Hansen was also full of praise for his teammates, particularly the style of rugby they are playing. "They've been unreal," he said. "They've been so good. It's class to see all the new guys have slotted in perfectly. We're playing a good, exciting brand of footy which we always do, scoring a lot of points and keeping people on the edge of their seats, or the edge of the standing. It's great to see, we're exactly where we want to be after three rounds, three wins, you can't ask for a better start, can you?"
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> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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