Irish rugby needs 'characters' like Mack - O'Mahony

Peter O'Mahony says Irish rugby needs "characters" like Mack Hansen after the winger joked about having a "five-minute tiff" with boss Andy Farrell.

The duo were on media duty after Farrell named a strong outfit to take on Tonga in Ireland's Pool B clash on Saturday in Nantes (8pm).

Australia-born Hansen joined Connacht in 2021 and quickly made an impression with his ability on the ball and his freewheeling care-free attitude off the pitch.

He was on the shortlist for Ireland and the Six Nations' player of the year awards last season and scored three tries in the victorious Grand Slam campaign, of which he played every minute of every game.

The exchange followed on from the head coach’s comments made last week that some players dealt with the down-time around the recent Samoa game in Bayonne better than others.

Hansen was originally left out of the team to face Romania but featured after Robbie Henshaw got injured in the captain's run.

Last Friday, backs coach Mike Catt said Hansen's omission was purely a selection issue.

"According to you [the media], he's been nothing but trouble," said Munster captain O’Mahony.

"He's been a breath of fresh air. An incredible character, good person.

"We talk about it a lot, the squad that we have and how important that is to fit in and straight away we knew he was a top man.

"A character but above it all he's an incredible athlete and one of the world's best wingers at the moment, which is a great addition to add to the squad.

"But as I said, the overriding factor is that he's a good person and he's seamlessly fitted into our squad like everyone else has.

"He's been great craic and you need characters like that. The beauty of the game of rugby is the different characters you get and we'd be lost