Farrell to Hansen: 'You better play well in those two different coloured boots!'

The Ireland 15 was the star man in the defeat of Australia. 

FRIENDS REUNITED: Australia's Head Coach Joe Schmidt and Ireland boss Andy Farrell ahead of the match. Pic: INPHO/Gary Carr

Andy Farrell revealed he had told Ireland’s hat-trick hero Mack Hansen he had better play well against Australia because of his odd-coloured boots.

Hansen, selected at full-back at Test level for the first time on his 29th Ireland appearance, scored the first three tries inside 29 minutes at Aviva Stadium on Saturday night as the Wallabies were consigned to a record defeat against their rivals, a six-try, 46-19 loss in the Dublin rain.

Second-half tries from Caelan Doris, Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw added to a Sam Prendergast drop goal and Jack Crowley penalty as Ireland extended a 19-14 interval lead but it was Hansen’s try-scoring and playmaking ability in the 15 jersey that caught the eye as the head coach saw his players deliver their finest performance of the month.

Hansen had been sidelined for the 26-13 loss to New Zealand in Chicago on November 1, and the 41-10 home win over Japan seven days earlier as he recovered from the foot injury he aggravated on Connacht duty last month which had caused him to miss out on Test selection with the British & Irish Lions against Australia during the summer.

With Hugo Keenan having not played since that tour Down Under and ruled out with a hip injury until the New Year and his stand-in Jamie Osborne sustaining a dislocated shoulder against the Japanese, Farrell deployed the 27-year-old Hansen at 15 rather than in his customary right wing berth and was rewarded with Ireland’s best attacking display of 2025 as they inflicted a record victory on the Wallabies.

Yet the Ireland boss was taken aback by Hansen’s choice of footwear, a white boot on his right foot and black one on his left.

"My first thoughts were: 'You better play well in those two different coloured boots!'” Farrell said afterwards of Hansen.

"I actually thought that was how it should have been but apparently Mack just did that himself anyway. So he's drawn attention to himself before he's even started.

"I said to him before the game, 'Good players don't need excuses, they can get on with it and just be themselves, you can get the man of the match if you want,' and he went, 'Yeah, I agree.'

"So he's that type of player, he prepares well, he's got a great attitude to get across his detail and so that's why he slotted straight back in and he was able to be himself because of that."

There was more to Hansen’s performance than his finishing in the sixth, 10th and 28th minutes which impressed Farrell, who added: “Popping up in the middle of the field is something that he does from the wing anyway, but I suppose he's more in position for that more often.

“His high ball stuff was brilliant, wasn't it? I thought we didn't get bored of doing the right thing and that was putting the ball back on them to get the field position, and the reason why that was the right thing to do is because it's the likes of Mackie who was getting the balls back, and Lowey (James Lowe), so pretty pleasing.” 

Speaking about the overall team performance as he finally got a reaction to two patchy displays so far this month, Farrell also mentioned the concession of two tries, to Len Ikitau and Fraser McReight, before half-time.

Yet he said: "It's very pleasing to be sat in here with a score like that in those type of conditions against a side which would have been well up for this. It's pretty pleasing.

“How we handled lots of bits throughout the game, especially them coming back just before half-time and regathering ourselves and giving a performance like we did in the second-half, I thought as far as field position and being across most of our game in that second half was really pleasing."

Asked to pick out the key elements behind the improvement, the head coach added: "Well, the start was pretty good. I thought we really let ourselves go and attacked the game straight from the word go.

“There were obviously some setbacks, discipline-wise or whatever, a dropped ball. It's going to happen in games like that and them coming back into it but holding our nerve and attacking the game again in the second half and keep playing the type of rugby that we did again in those conditions right until the end. I thought we gave a good account of ourselves."