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League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Mack Hansen during this year's Six Nations.Billy Stickland/INPHO Could the returning Mack Hansen be Ireland's jack-in-the-box? The Connacht man is back in Andy Farrell’s squad ahead of the Wallabies clash. 8.59pm, 10 Nov 2025 Share options IT TOOK EVERYONE by surprise when Andy Farrell dropped Mack Hansen’s name in there on Saturday evening when he was asked who would be in contention to feature at fullback against Australia. Jamie Osborne had just dislocated his shoulder during the win against Japan, while Hugo Keenan remains some way off full fitness due to the hip surgery he underwent after the Lions tour. In fairness, the question to Farrell included the presumption that Hansen was still not back in the mix, so the Ireland head coach wasn’t bringing him up completely out of the blue. When Hansen injured his foot on his seasonal return for Connacht four weekends ago and was then ruled out of the trip to Chicago to face the All Blacks, Ireland did say that he could return at some stage during the window, depending on his recovery. And confirmation came today that Hansen is now back in the Ireland squad. Farrell said on Saturday that the Connacht man was “progressing well” with his rehabilitation of his foot injury, which was a recurrence of the issue he suffered on the Lions tour, while today’s update from Ireland added that Hansen “continues to make positive strides” as they look toward the Australia game. Whether Farrell brings Hansen straight back into the team remains to be seen, with Jimmy O’Brien another possible replacement for Osborne against the Wallabies. O’Brien has had a strange time with Ireland in recent seasons. He was impressive off the bench in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand, making an impact on the right wing. Advertisement Jimmy O'Brien came off the bench at fullback last weekend.Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO When Keenan missed the 2024 tour of South Africa as he went on Ireland 7s duty, O’Brien looked like the obvious next-in-line. But head coach Farrell handed Osborne his Ireland debut at number 15 despite him having played in midfield all season with Leinster. O’Brien went nearly 19 months without another Ireland cap after that 2023 appearance against the All Blacks, but he made a return to the green jersey last summer when he started both Tests against Georgia and Portugal at fullback. Yet with Keenan sidelined again for this window, Farrell returned to Osborne as his second-choice fullback. O’Brien didn’t even make the first Ireland squad named for these November Tests, but he came in when Hansen was ruled out of the trip to Chicago. O’Brien didn’t feature against the All Blacks at Soldier Field, then came onto the bench for the Japan clash when Garry Ringrose was ruled out at a late stage, which meant Tom Farrell was promoted into the starting XV. So O’Brien getting the starting nod at fullback would make sense for this weekend. He is a clever, adaptable player who also covers the wing and outside centre. Jacob Stockdale, who started on the left wing against Japan, is another option but hasn’t played much rugby at number 15 in recent seasons, while Ciarán Frawley and Jack Crowley have played at fullback in the past. Yet the return of Hansen, a real Farrell favourite, presents an interesting possibility. The Connacht man would almost certainly have been a Test Lion but for his foot injury, which ruled him out of all three clashes with the Wallabies after he had impressed during the warm-up games. Hansen was injured on his return for Connacht four weekends ago.James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO A moment in the opening fixture on Aussie soil against the Western Force was one of Farrell’s favourites of the entire build-up. The Force hacked a turnover down into the Lions half, but Hansen scorched back to claim it, offloading calmly under pressure. On the next phase, he booted the ball deep into the Force half, chased hard, and forced a forward pass from one of the Australians. Farrell absolutely loved it. He also values Hansen’s creativity, handling skills, aerial ability, as well as his tenacity in contact and his penchant for contesting the breakdown strongly in wide channels. Hansen hasn’t started a Test for Ireland at fullback, but he has played there for Connacht and made his only appearance of this season so far in the number 15 shirt for his province. He has predominantly been a right wing for Ireland, but Tommy O’Brien is playing well there. Hansen has also started games on the left wing for Ireland. Ireland have lacked cutting edge in their attack so far in this campaign and Hansen at his best is definitely someone who brings that. Whether he could get straight back up to his best if sent into Test rugby this weekend against his native Australia is another question. After so much discussion of Irish players’ lack of game time coming into this window, Hansen would be on a different level again. He has only played 80 minutes of rugby in the last four months. It was concerning for him, Connacht, and Ireland that Hansen suffered a recurrence of that injury from the Lions tour on his first outing of the season, so the positive updates on his recovery have been welcome. He obviously won’t be risked if there is even the slightest doubt about his readiness, but Hansen’s return to the full Ireland squad demonstrates that he’s very close to making his comeback. He has been Ireland’s jack-in-the-box several times before and Farrell would love to call on him as he looks for more spark this weekend. Murray Kinsella Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Could the returning Mack Hansen be Ireland's jack-in-the-box?”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Could the returning Mack Hansen be Ireland's jack-in-the-box?”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... 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