Mack Hansen: 'I owe a hell of a lot to the guys in this team'

With a new contract bringing him up to the next Rugby World Cup in 2027, Mack Hansen says he's ready to repay the faith shown in him by the Irish management.

The Connacht wing signed a two-year central contract with the IRFU this week, the latest milestone in what’s been an almost fairytale rise for the Australia native.

Hansen moved to Ireland as a complete unknown in the summer of 2021, the 23-year-old's plan at the time was to take advantage of being an Irish-qualified Aussie and play a couple of seasons in Galway, before using professional rugby as a passport to see the world.

"Not that I didn't have aspirations to be playing for Ireland - I did - but I just never thought I was going to get there," the 27-year-old says as he reflects on his journey so far.

"My whole thinking was come over and have a bit of craic, and I think it worked in my favour, if anything. I couldn't believe I'll be here.

"I remember thinking, coming to Galway, that I was going to be living in a hut somewhere, that my lights were going to be candles and stuff like that, like I had no clue what I was coming into, to be honest with you!

"My whole thought coming over here was that my mum was born here, I had family and stuff here, and as I said at the time, I didn't really think that much was happening for me at Brum [Brumbies] so I was literally coming over here to have a bit of fun.

"Then, if I played well and something else came up, say France, Japan, whatever it was, that I was just going to keep moving on doing that, just from what my career was at Brums at the time.

"I knew that I had a bit of Irish heritage behind me which helped me get over here but no, I never could have believed that I'd be where I am now."

Recent history would suggest that the