Mack Hansen: Lions should win every game on this tour

Telegraph

a day ago

Winger Mack Hansen said the British and Irish Lions are conscious they will get their 'heads absolutely chewed off' if they slip up in another warm-up game.
Head coach Andy Farrell reacted with barely concealed fury to the 28-24 defeat by Argentina in Dublin last Friday and the squad are under no illusions about what happens if they lose to the Western Force at Perth's Optus Stadium on Saturday.
Argentina are at least ranked fifth in the world and the Lions will be overwhelming favourites in their remaining warm-up games against the Super Rugby franchises and an invitational Australia and New Zealand side. Hansen, though, says the Lions are embracing that sense of expectation having witnessed what happens when they fall short of those standards.
'If you put the jersey on, we're four of the best teams in the world, so the expectation is to win regardless of who you're playing,' Hansen said. 'I know there were things about, we hadn't been together very long. There were a few excuses that we could have had but we've thrown them out the door. At the end of the day, four of the best teams, some of the best players in the world. You should be winning every time, so every time it's a loss, it just isn't good enough.
'That's the best thing that this group has on its shoulders at the moment, that we know that and as disappointed as we were, we don't want to feel that again. If anything, it's good to feel it early and then we know that we'll get our heads absolutely chewed off if it happens again, so the plan is to win from here on out.
'That's how everyone is thinking, it's not just me by any means. You know that expectation before you even come in so it makes it easy enough to adjust to it. It's not like you get in and you're like 'Woah, what's going on here?' If you get the opportunity to be on this tour and play in the red jersey, yeah, you should be winning games.
'A lot of the chat has been about us and what we need to improve. The only thing that can beat us is us really. If we are not on it and doing things to the best of our ability; that's what is going to let us down. That's been a lot of the focus.'
🏃💨 Mack Hansen's speed is still 😱 @IrishRugby #IREvTGA pic.twitter.com/HDsfh2nrgz
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) September 16, 2023
Australia-born Hansen, 27, is uniquely placed to offer an insight about the challenges that the Super Rugby franchises will pose having been in the stands as a Brumbies supporter when the Lions lost 14-12 in Canberra on the 2013 tour.
'It was my dad, my brother and me,' Hansen said. 'We were sitting behind the goalposts watching it. It was mad. You don't expect anyone to actually do it, but I talked to guys after that and they'd been pumped up for the game for weeks, working towards it. They saw it as the be-all and end-all.'
Hansen has no doubt that a Western Force side containing six Wallabies as well as his former house-mate Bayley Kuenzle will adopt precisely the same mindset. 'You know yourself when you are coming up against a big team, such as us, those guys will definitely be able to get up for that,' Hansen said. 'They've only got one game and then they are on holidays. You can really rev yourself up for these games. We are not expecting anything easy by any means. They've got this then it will be 10 toes up for the next five weeks. I'm sure they are going to give it their all.
'We want to win every game but we're not playing the Force this week with them saying, 'All right boys, let's go out and lose by 40'. They'll be coming out thinking, 'We can cause an upset'. Things do happen. But it's about your mind-set and we are not taking anyone lightly.'
Magic hands against @westernforce in 2013 ✨ pic.twitter.com/QndCTN6rcN
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 25, 2025
Twelve years ago, Hansen says the prospect of returning to Australia as a Lion would have seemed like something from an 'alternate universe'.
Opportunities proved limited at the Brumbies but Hansen quickly burst onto the international scene with Ireland, whom he qualifies for through his Cork-born mother, after joining Connacht in 2021.
'It's been the best decision I've ever made, so I haven't really looked back at it at all and wondered, 'What if?',' Hansen said.
'I've just been going forward with Ireland. As I said, I have no regrets with that. I've got a new life over there, new friends, new family. For me, it's definitely the best decision I've ever made.'