Ireland wing Mack Hansen has a fondness for unusual tattoos, and he has previous for showing them off during interviews.
The Connacht star was a special guest on The Rugby Pod this week, alongside regular hosts Andy Goode, Jim Hamilton, and Andy Rowe, and was once again asked about the designs he has had inked on him in the past.
Hansen revealed he has added to his previous tattoo of Connacht teammate Oisin Dowling - and that the designs had landed him in hot water with his girlfriend.
Mack Hansen details tattoos of Connacht teammates
Mack Hansen was Ireland's breakout star of 2022, and was nominated for the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year for his performances. He scored a crucial try in Ireland's November win over world champions South Africa, and has cemented his place in Andy Farrell's Ireland squad ahead of World Cup year.
Speaking to The Rugby Pod ahead of kick-off in this year's Six Nations, Hansen was asked about the prospects for Ireland ahead of the World Cup later this year in France - but also spoke on a number of more light-hearted topics.
One of those was his choice of tattoos, with the Aussie-born Ireland winger describing himself as a "picture book" for the amount of designs he has on his body.
4 March 2022; Oisin Dowling of Connacht is tackled by Connor Boyle of Edinburgh during the United Rugby Championship match between Edinburgh and Connacht at Dam Health Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Paul Devlin/Sportsfile
Hansen has depictions of two teammates inked on his body - he had already spoken about his Oisin Dowling design, but revealed on the Rugby Pod that Peter Dooley has now joined Dowling. Speaking about his array of tattoos and the thought process that goes into them, Hansen jokingly revealed that his girlfriend was not best pleased with his choice to get tattoos of Dowling and Dooley:
I'm a bit of a picture book at the moment. I don't really have an end goal with it, if I see something I kind of just get it. At the moment it seems like a great idea.
Oisin Dowling on my leg is pretty grim - my missus was pretty spewing about that, especially because I don't have a tattoo of her. When I got an actual face of just one of my mates she wasn't very happy with that.
I've also got recently...Peter Dooley, his dad's name is Gerry and I call him Gerry all the time, so I got "Gerry Dooley" on my leg in nice running writing. That's pretty horrendous. That's one that I'll probably look back on in a few years and think "ah, fuck, what was I thinking?"
Hansen then accepted a challenge with the podcast hosts ahead of the Six Nations. The lightning-fast wing will hope to help Ireland to victory in Edinburgh on March 12 and, if he cannot, he will be obliged to get "Big Jim" tattooed on his body in honour of former Scotland player Jim Hamilton. The bet will be reversed if "Big Mack" can lead Ireland to a win at Murrayfield.
The Six Nations this year takes on added weight with 2023 being a World Cup year. Ireland only narrowly lost out on last year's title to France, after a lone defeat in Paris - in which Hansen scored his first try for Ireland. They will hope that home advantage will see them through against the French this year.
September's World Cup, however, takes place on French soil, and winning it for Ireland will likely require beating France on their home turf. Hansen said on the Rugby Pod that Andy Farrell's Ireland team are keeping their focus on the Six Nations, and building as the year goes on one step at a time.
It could be a special year for Irish rugby once again, with Mack Hansen no doubt set to play a big part - this spring's Six Nations will give a huge indication of how they are set up for the autumn's World Cup.
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