THE FIRST SCORE of Ireland’s six-try haul against Argentina suggested we were in for a strong, confident performance from Andy Farrell’s team.
The move started with an Irish maul, before Craig Casey sent the ball infield. Sam Prendergast and Robbie Henshaw linked beautifully, and as the attack swung from right to left, Ireland’s back three came into the mix.
Robert Baloucoune was first up, using his speed to attack the space before getting the ball wide to Mack Hansen – Ireland’s two roaming wingers working closely down the left.
The move was building nicely, but Hansen still had plenty of work to do. As winger Bautista Delguy clamped onto the Connacht player, and two more Argentina defenders closed in, Hansen fired a basketball-style offload inside to Hugo Keenan, who finished a clinical, accurate play.
Hansen throws an offload to Hugo Keenan. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“The first time or two I got the ball, I just noticed they were covering in so well,” said Hansen, who was back in the green jersey for the first time since the 2025 November internationals.
“When I was stepping off, it felt like they were on me straight away. So when I had it, and as the boys ran the move so well, I could see them on the inside and I thought they’ve covered across so much that there’s got to be a bit of space inside. So I just trusted that they’d be there, and they were, and yeah, the rest is history.
“So it ended up being a great try. But we’ve been running these moves and everything for not only weeks, but years now, so I’ve got more than enough confidence now. Most of the time if I throw a ball somewhere, somebody’s going to get on the end of it.”
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There’s an element of playing what you see, but much of it comes down to the plans Ireland have been drilling on the training pitch with coaches Andrew Goodman and Johnny Sexton.
“Goody, Johnny, they’re working really well together. They set up the plan and we just make sure that we’re going over our details, getting everything right so when it comes to game day, it looks like that.
“They’re extremely hard on us with the way we run our things and it’s perfect, exactly what we need. It just helps when you come into game time, you almost feel like sometimes there’s more pressure on you in training because you just know, Goody, he’s not too much of a hot head, but Johnny will scream at you properly if you mess it up. So, they’re a bit of yin and yang, which seems to work, definitely.”
Ireland’s accuracy was notable, as was the self-belief in a team who have had a mixed 2026.
“I’ve always said it, coming up here (to Ireland camp), there were plenty of things I felt like I did right throughout the week in training, but there were plenty of things I did wrong, and not once do coaches come up and they’re like, ‘Never do that again’ or anything. It’s more ‘What were you seeing? Why’d you do that? What would you do next time?’
The Connacht player celebrates after the win. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“We talk through things, and it just gives you so much confidence. I feel like I can properly be myself and just play my game. I feel like that here more than anywhere, I’ve been able to do that on this team, and I really appreciate that all the coaches, the trust they’re putting in me to do that. Yeah, as you said yourself, there can be a lot of times where you get screamed at for things like that, but again, I think they always see method to the madness, which is good.”
It was a highly-encouraging start to Ireland’s November campaign, which continues against games against Fiji and South Africa, and a promising outing for that back three of Hansen, Baloucoune and Keenan – a combination which hasn’t played a whole lot of rugby together.
“Playing with Hugo, like he’s my favourite player to play with,” Hansen said.
“He just makes your job so much easier with his comms, his work rate, everything like that. I think he gets a good bit of credit, he’s getting more now, but I don’t think people understand how good of a player he really is.
“And then the other side of that, Rob, I thought he was outstanding. He came up to me and said, ‘Oh Jesus, feeling tight enough after that 1st half’ and no doubt. Like he had pretty much all the highballs, they’re a great highball side, and I thought he went after them really well, attacked the air, and then he just showed his pace and his skills and how silky he is when he’s got the ball in hand, and he looked really dangerous, I thought, when he had the ball.
“So again, that’s coming back, for me, I kind of felt like, ‘Jeez, these guys are playing so well.’ I’ve got to add something here because, again, like Tommy (O’Brien), Jimmy (O’Brien), Jacob (Stockdale), Rizz God, that’s Jamie Osborne. There are some good players waiting in your wing, so you can’t afford to have a bad game.”
Hansen is tackled by Argentina's Julián Montoya. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Not that it was a perfect performance, with Hansen admitting the start could have been sharper, as Ireland fell 5-0 behind in the early stages.
“I wasn’t too happy how it started, felt like we started pretty slow. Maybe a few nerves and stuff like that.
“Then I threw that ball to Robbie. It was just a bit of miscommunication between me and him there. And I was like, ‘Oh, fuck it, I’m just going to back myself here.’ I was happier with the last 30 minutes, I thought I kind of attacked the game, played my game a lot more. Some good bits here and there, but yeah, I thought it started quite slow. Don’t know if that was nerves or what.”
The 28-year-old took a knock during the win, but confirmed there was nothing that will trouble him heading into Saturday’s clash with Fiji.
“Just a little bang here and there on the ankle. All good. 100% fine. As Faz would say, a bit of attention-seeking going on.”
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'I feel I can properly be myself and just play my game' - Hansen makes confident Ireland return
THE FIRST SCORE of Ireland’s six-try haul against Argentina suggested we were in for a strong, confident performance from Andy Farrell’s team.
The move started with an Irish maul, before Craig Casey sent the ball infield. Sam Prendergast and Robbie Henshaw linked beautifully, and as the attack swung from right to left, Ireland’s back three came into the mix.
Robert Baloucoune was first up, using his speed to attack the space before getting the ball wide to Mack Hansen – Ireland’s two roaming wingers working closely down the left.
The move was building nicely, but Hansen still had plenty of work to do. As winger Bautista Delguy clamped onto the Connacht player, and two more Argentina defenders closed in, Hansen fired a basketball-style offload inside to Hugo Keenan, who finished a clinical, accurate play.
“The first time or two I got the ball, I just noticed they were covering in so well,” said Hansen, who was back in the green jersey for the first time since the 2025 November internationals.
“When I was stepping off, it felt like they were on me straight away. So when I had it, and as the boys ran the move so well, I could see them on the inside and I thought they’ve covered across so much that there’s got to be a bit of space inside. So I just trusted that they’d be there, and they were, and yeah, the rest is history.
There’s an element of playing what you see, but much of it comes down to the plans Ireland have been drilling on the training pitch with coaches Andrew Goodman and Johnny Sexton.
“Goody, Johnny, they’re working really well together. They set up the plan and we just make sure that we’re going over our details, getting everything right so when it comes to game day, it looks like that.
“They’re extremely hard on us with the way we run our things and it’s perfect, exactly what we need. It just helps when you come into game time, you almost feel like sometimes there’s more pressure on you in training because you just know, Goody, he’s not too much of a hot head, but Johnny will scream at you properly if you mess it up. So, they’re a bit of yin and yang, which seems to work, definitely.”
Ireland’s accuracy was notable, as was the self-belief in a team who have had a mixed 2026.
“I’ve always said it, coming up here (to Ireland camp), there were plenty of things I felt like I did right throughout the week in training, but there were plenty of things I did wrong, and not once do coaches come up and they’re like, ‘Never do that again’ or anything. It’s more ‘What were you seeing? Why’d you do that? What would you do next time?’
“We talk through things, and it just gives you so much confidence. I feel like I can properly be myself and just play my game. I feel like that here more than anywhere, I’ve been able to do that on this team, and I really appreciate that all the coaches, the trust they’re putting in me to do that. Yeah, as you said yourself, there can be a lot of times where you get screamed at for things like that, but again, I think they always see method to the madness, which is good.”
It was a highly-encouraging start to Ireland’s November campaign, which continues against games against Fiji and South Africa, and a promising outing for that back three of Hansen, Baloucoune and Keenan – a combination which hasn’t played a whole lot of rugby together.
“Playing with Hugo, like he’s my favourite player to play with,” Hansen said.
“And then the other side of that, Rob, I thought he was outstanding. He came up to me and said, ‘Oh Jesus, feeling tight enough after that 1st half’ and no doubt. Like he had pretty much all the highballs, they’re a great highball side, and I thought he went after them really well, attacked the air, and then he just showed his pace and his skills and how silky he is when he’s got the ball in hand, and he looked really dangerous, I thought, when he had the ball.
“So again, that’s coming back, for me, I kind of felt like, ‘Jeez, these guys are playing so well.’ I’ve got to add something here because, again, like Tommy (O’Brien), Jimmy (O’Brien), Jacob (Stockdale), Rizz God, that’s Jamie Osborne. There are some good players waiting in your wing, so you can’t afford to have a bad game.”
Not that it was a perfect performance, with Hansen admitting the start could have been sharper, as Ireland fell 5-0 behind in the early stages.
“I wasn’t too happy how it started, felt like we started pretty slow. Maybe a few nerves and stuff like that.
“Then I threw that ball to Robbie. It was just a bit of miscommunication between me and him there. And I was like, ‘Oh, fuck it, I’m just going to back myself here.’ I was happier with the last 30 minutes, I thought I kind of attacked the game, played my game a lot more. Some good bits here and there, but yeah, I thought it started quite slow. Don’t know if that was nerves or what.”
The 28-year-old took a knock during the win, but confirmed there was nothing that will trouble him heading into Saturday’s clash with Fiji.
“Just a little bang here and there on the ankle. All good. 100% fine. As Faz would say, a bit of attention-seeking going on.”
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Impact Ireland Mack Hansen Nations Championship Rugby