Andy Friend amazed Wallabies have not come calling for John Porch

Mack Hansen may have stolen the headlines with his two-try display against the Scarlets but it was the performance of fellow Connacht wing John Porch that again caught the eye of Andy Friend.

Porch produced another excellent all-round display at a wet and windy Sportsground on Friday as Connacht got their season back on track with a bonus-point victory.

A safe pair of hands under the high ball, the 28-year-old also provided some slick link-up play in attack and looked to have put Conor Oliver over on the stroke of half-time, only to be denied by a scrambling Scarlets defence.

Throw in a much-improved kicking game and some rock-solid defending, as well as being an ever-present this season, and it's no wonder Friend singled out his fellow Australian after the 36-14 success.

"How he is not in that Wallabies set-up is amazing to me," said the Connacht director of rugby, who also worked with Porch while in charge of Australia’s Sevens team.

"He is an incredible talent. We know we can put him at full-back, he can play on the wing, his high ball stuff is excellent and he has really worked on his kicking game.

"He is elusive with the ball, brave in defence, all things you want from a bloke. He’s delivering that. He’s been outstanding for us."

Porch is in his fourth season with Connacht, having swapped Sydney for Galway in 2019, and with a Wallabies call-up appearing unlikely, could Australia's loss be Ireland’s gain?

"He’d have to have this season and one more, then he would become eligible to play for Ireland," said Friend.

"He loves it here, you can see that in the way he plays his rugby. He and his wife Ella have settled here now and the way he’s playing his footy, he’s enjoying himself."

Connacht again mixed good with bad against the