Ireland have started this year's Six Nations in brilliant form, with Andy Farrell's side producing two excellent displays en route to victories over France and Italy.
While the Italian win would have been expected, the nature of the triumph in Marseille to start the month still has quite a few people in the world of rugby talking. The home side were well short of their best, but Ireland produced the type of performance that dispelled any notions of a possible World Cup hangover.
Of course, this was made all the more impressive when you consider some of the absentees from the team. As well as losing Johnny Sexton to retirement, the likes of Garry Ringrose and Mack Hansen have also been absent from the squad for the first couple of games due to injury.
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Mack Hansen struggled to enjoy first Six Nations game as a fan
Mack Hansen has been an incredible addition to the Ireland squad since first coming into the fold in 2022, immediately becoming one of the highest performing and most popular players in the side.
The Australian-born winger had only been living in Ireland for a matter of months before being called up to the test side, qualifying to do so via his Irish-born mother. In fact, the first Six Nations game he ever attended came during his debut against Wales in 2022.
Now recovering from a shoulder injury, the match against Italy was the first time he had attended a fixture in the tournament as a fan.
Speaking on the Kick Offs and Kick Ons podcast, Hansen admitted that he struggled to enjoy it despite the addition of a couple of pints of Guinness and a sneaky hot dog.
I had one or two (pints). I was just enjoying watching my first Six Nations game as a fan. In typical fashion I had a couple of Guinness.
I actually had my first hot dog in god knows how long, that went down a treat. It was good...
There is a really good buzz around at the moment. Obviously we had a really good win in France last week as well...
It's pretty shithouse to be honest (watching the game). I was thinking 'this will be great', but when I was actually sitting down watching them I thought 'this sucks, I'd rather be involved'.
In saying that, they're doing really well at the moment. It's good as well to see the team that they are turning into.
Here's hoping that he won't have to spend too many more Six Nations fixtures sitting on the sidelines.
While Mack Hansen will miss the rest of this year's championship, he is hoping to be back for the tail end of the provincial season. Later in the podcast, he mentions Connacht's game against Munster at Thomond Park on May 11th as a potential date for his return.
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