Hansen hat-trick as Ireland power to six-try win over Wallabies

Andy Farrell's side had too much for Joe Schmidt's Australia at the Aviva Stadium. 

Caelan Doris of Ireland is congratulated by team-mate Cian Prendergast after scoring their fourth try as James Lowe, right, celebrates. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

IRELAND 46 AUSTRALIA 19 

Ireland looked back to their best as they inflicted a heavy defeat on Joe Schmidt’s Australia, spearheaded by a first-half hat-trick from full-back Mack Hansen.

It was a miserable return to Dublin for the former Ireland head coach, who had enjoyed so many famous nights at Aviva Stadium during his six-year tenure between 2013 and 2019 but this was the Wallabies’ third loss in a row on their end of season European tour and they were well beaten by an Irish side whose attack clicked brilliantly into place for sustained periods of this sell-out Quilter Nations Series Test.

Hansen’s hat-trick had come inside 29 minutes of his first international in the number 15 jersey and though Australia hit back through tries from Len Ikitau and Fraser McReight to make it 19-14 at the interval, Ireland cruised to victory in a dominant second half. Tries from skipper Caelan Doris, fellow back-rower Ryan Baird and centre Robbie Henshaw followed a Sam Prendergast drop goal and penalty from replacement fly-half Jack Crowley which had extended their advantage after the break as Ireland racked up a record win over the Australians.

It was an impressive team performance, half-backs Jamison Gibson-Park and Sam Prendergast setting a high tempo and unsettling their opponents with a variety of kicks in open play and slick distribution, aided by the playmaking instincts of Hansen. Much-discussed lineout worries were eradicated to add to a dominant scrum as Ireland eased concerns about a steady decline.

After a defeat to New Zealand a fortnight earlier and a stuttering performance before a late flurry of tries to see off Japan, Ireland needed to make a statement against a Wallabies side which had lost its first two games in Europe, to England and Italy.

They delivered it emphatically with their most fluid performance since the first round of the Six Nations as the decision to deploy Hansen at full-back for the first time in his international career paid huge dividends.

The Australian-born Irishman’s hat-trick came inside the opening half hour as Andy Farrell’s men attacked with an intent that had been lacking for long periods of their first two Tests of the month. Playing in persistent rain, Hansen dovetailed neatly with his half-backs to unlock the Wallabies defence and was the man on the spot to score under the posts after just six minutes with gold jerseys sucked to their right-hand corner following a quick tap penalty from scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, Sam Prendergast converting.

The second try came on 10 minutes as Prendergast kicked low into the same corner, Aussie full-back Max Jorgensen knocking on the greasy bobbling ball. From the scrum, quick ball again wrong-footed the visitors to allow Hansen to once again run under the posts with his fly-half doubling the lead with the simple conversion.

With a 14-0 lead, Ireland’s discipline began to slip and when Jack Conan was penalised for playing the scrum-half inside his own 22. Australia scored with an advantage from referee Karl Dickson as centre Len Ikitau bulldozed over the line, James O’Connor’s conversion making it 14-7 after 18 minutes.

Ireland, though, were playing with aggression and at a high tempo which the Australians found difficult to live with, a tenacious kick-chase from James Lowe prompting a scramble from the covering Jorgenson, the Irish wing earning a turnover scrum by forcing the full-back over his own tryline in the 28th minute.

Ireland struck from the five-metre scrum, quick hands at the line finding Prendergast who managed to get away a kick pass to the right wing under pressure. Right wing Tommy O’Brien fielded the ball, placing it on the turf for Hansen to run onto to claim his hat-trick on 29 minutes. Prendergast missed the conversion but Ireland were 19-7 in front, only for poor discipline to once again undermined their cause. First Tadhg Beirne jumped prematurely out of the defensive line to concede an offside penalty, prompting referee Dickson to warn Irish captain Doris about his team’s discipline. Less than a minute later James Ryan strayed offside and Australia scored with the advantage powerhouse flanker, Fraser McReight’s try and O’Connor’s conversion making it 19-14 at the interval.

Ireland bossed the third quarter in terms of possession but it needed a Prendergast drop goal to extend their lead by three points on 55 minutes, the perfectly executed kick handing the home side an eight-point lead.

The Ireland fly-half was clearly brimming with confidence and his crossfield kick to the right wing was a simple catch for O’Brien, who thought he had added to his first home try in green in last week’s man of the match performance against the Japanese. It was not to be, TMO Ian Tempest spotting a knock-on from both Jorgenson and then Lowe.

It was to be Prendergast’s last action before he was replaced on the hour with Jack Crowley’s first action to kick a penalty after Ireland had won the resulting scrum to extend the lead to 25-14 with 19 minutes remaining.

Doris had started the game at openside flanker but switched to his more familiar No.8 role as Nick Timoney replaced Jack Conan but it made no difference to the captain as he barrelled over in the corner to put the game beyond the Wallabies in the 69th minute, Crowley adding the extras from the edge as Ireland opened up a 32-14 lead.

A yellow card for replacement lock Nick Frost added to Australian misery 10 minutes from time after high contact with Thomas Clarkson but it did not stop Schmidt’s side from scoring their first points of the half as substitute hooker Billy Pollard scored three minutes later. Ireland, however, finished on a high, Ryan Baird scoring his team’s fifth try on 77 minutes and Crowley adding another conversion before an excellent crossfield kick from Gibson-Park put in Henshaw for the final try at the death. Another touchline conversion from Crowley rounded off an excellent night’s work for Andy Farrell’s men.

IRELAND: M Hansen (J Gibson-Park, 71); T O'Brien, R Henshaw, S McCloskey (B Aki, 27), J Lowe; S Prendergast (J Crowley, 60), J Gibson-Park; P McCarthy (A Porter, 47), D Sheehan (R Kelleher, 56), T Furlong (T Clarkson, 56, Furlong 71 - HIA); J Ryan (C Prendergast, 56), T Beirne; R Baird, C Doris – captain, J Conan (N Timoney, 47).

AUSTRALIA: M Jorgensen; F Daugunu (A Kellaway, 55 - HIA), J-A Suaalii, L Ikitau, H Potter; J O’Connor (T Edmed, 70), J Gordon (R Lonergan, 70); A Bell (T Robertson, 53), M Faessler (B Pollard, 53), A Alaalatoa (Z Nonggorr, 62); J Williams (N Frost, 55), T Hooper; R Valetini (C Tizzano, 62), F McReight, H Wilson – captain.

Yellow card: N Frost 70-80 

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)