Mack Hansen has given an insight into Andy Farrell's dressing room persona, by detailing a speech the Ireland Head Coach gave on the tour of New Zealand last year.
Hansen was still a fresh addition to the Ireland set-up when they flew down to New Zealand for what would turn out to be a historic series for Farrell's men.
After losing the first test against the All Blacks in Auckland, Ireland moved on to Dunedin for the second game a week later. It was here that, according to Hansen, Farrell decided to poke at the players' egos by insinuating that they were nobodies in the eyes of their famous opponents.
Mack Hansen outlines Andy Farrell team talk
"Before our second Test against New Zealand last year, he [Farrell] gave the best pre-game speech I’ve ever heard," says the winger, in a big interview with the Mail on Sunday.
"It was like something out of a movie. We’d been pumped in the first Test and he walked in and gave this spiel. There was no looking around at your feet, you’re literally dead-eyed on him the whole time. He was like, 'These f***ers don’t even know your f***ing name, make sure by the end of this night they know who the f**k you are'.
"It’s actually true because when you play New Zealand, you feel like you know who they are but I reckon none of them would know who you are. Just, no one ever says it. Andy wasn’t afraid to say it. We were thinking, 'F**k yeah, let’s go'. And we went out and won."
That 23-12 victory was Ireland's first-ever win over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil, and they would go on to create more history a week later by taking the third test 32-22, thus winning a series in the country for the first time.
9 July 2022; Will Jordan of New Zealand gets hit with the ball as he attempts to catch a high ball against Robbie Henshaw of Ireland during the Steinlager Series match between the New Zealand and Ireland at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
"They don't respect you."
After the success Farrell's team talk the previous week, Hansen reveals he repeated the trick in Wellington ahead of the third test.
"In the third test the next week he said, “Alright lads, they know your name now but they still don’t know who you are,' Hansen continues.
"'They don’t respect you'. Stuff like that, he doesn’t let you sleep on it, constantly at you. He could’ve come in and said, 'Lads, you’re good enough, you’ve shown you’re good enough to do this', but that’s not going to get you going, is it?
"We’d just be like, 'Right-o'. It was a case of telling us that we haven’t proved anything. The way he approaches stuff like that, he has a real killer’s mentality. That was the first time I’ve run out to a game thinking I’d do anything for someone. I’d love to know if he writes this stuff down, or if he just says what comes into his head.’"
Andy Farrell tattoo ✅
Mack Hansen is just built different 😆 pic.twitter.com/x3hAQEZ7si— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) June 1, 2023
Mack Hansen gets an Andy Farrell tattoo
Such is Hansen's respect for Farrell that he has had his coach's face tattooed on his leg, after honouring a bet he made with Johnny Sexton.
"I didn’t hear a whisper about it for eight weeks but Johnny came up to me before the England game and said, If we win, you’re still getting that Andy Farrell tattoo?' explains the 25-year-old. "Then he went and told Andy about it so I wasn’t left with much choice!"
Should Ireland achieve success at the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France, perhaps the charismatic Hansen could make room for a tattoo of Sexton and a few more of his colleagues.
Ireland's campaign gets underway in Bordeaux next Saturday, when they take on Romania in their opening pool game.
