Ireland 46-19 Australia: Mack Hansen shines brightest as Irish heed Andy Farrell’s call

Hansen, who played 28 times on the wing, was appointed to the full-back position for the first time after Hugo Keenan and Jamie Osborne were injured.

For him, it was a matter of picking up where he left off in the summer. The 28-year-old was in great form on the British and Irish Lions tour before injury ruined his dreams of breaking into the Test team.

A foot problem ruled him out of the All Blacks and Japan matches after returning to Connacht last month.

After announcing his team on Thursday, Farrell said he had Hansen “in his teeth” and that these were clearly not empty words, with the former Brumbies player giving his head coach an intriguing selection headache in the near future.

“My first thoughts were: ‘You better play nice with these two different colored boots!'” Farrell said, referring to Hansen’s decision to wear one black and one white boot.

“I actually thought it was supposed to be like that, but it turns out Mack had already done it himself, so he attracted attention before he even started.

“I said to him before the match, ‘Good players don’t need excuses, they can be themselves, you can get man of the match if you want’ and he said, ‘Yes, I agree.’

“So he’s that type of player, he prepares well, he has a great attitude to understand the details and that’s why he came right back and that’s how he was able to be himself.”