Latest news with #LachlanLonergan
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Australia-born Lion Hansen faces 'pinch-me' moment against old team
Australia-born British and Irish Lions wing Mack Hansen will line up against his old club ACT Brumbies (DAVID GRAY) Australia-born Mack Hansen says lining up for the British and Irish Lions on the wing against his old club ACT Brumbies on Wednesday will be a "pinch-me" moment. The 27-year-old, whose mother is Irish, grew up in Canberra and spent three seasons with the Super Rugby club before a move to Connacht in 2021. Advertisement A Test call-up followed from Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, now in charge of the Lions, and Hansen has not looked back. He has started two of the Lions three games in Australia so far and is set to come off the bench against the Brumbies, Australia's strongest provincial side although they are without a slew of top players on Wallabies duty. "It's incredible," said Hansen of being back in Canberra. "It is a bit of a pinch-me moment -- not in my wildest dreams could I imagine I would be back here playing for the Lions, so it is very special. "I've got about 30 friends or family coming, I've had people coming out the woodwork asking for tickets for a while now." Advertisement Hansen will come face-to-face with "two of my best mates" in Ryan and Lachlan Lonergan, who are both in the Brumbies starting XV. "I haven't played against them in a while so it will be a nice switch-up," said Hansen. "It will be an interesting experience, I don't know how I will feel until I'm out on the field." Scrum-half Ryan Lonergan is Brumbies captain for the day and said it would be "super special" to face-off against his boyhood friend. "We've been great mates since we're about 12 really," he told reporters, adding that he was proud of what Hansen had achieved. Advertisement "We had a pretty set back three here at the time and he just took a stab and went overseas and we're all happy for him." The Lions won their two opening tour games with ease, crushing Western Force 54-7 and the Queensland Reds 52-12, but they met resistance from the NSW Waratahs in a grinding 21-10 victory. Farrell has named a strong side led by Maro Itoje to face the Brumbies, with Tommy Freeman and James Lowe starting on the wings. mp/dh
Reuters
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Return of the Mack brings extra edge to Lions trip to Canberra
SYDNEY, July 8 (Reuters) - Mack Hansen rolled into Canberra with the British & Irish Lions on Monday but it was far from a trip into the unknown for the Ireland winger, who will play for the tourists off the bench against the ACT Brumbies on Wednesday. The 27-year-old was born, raised and schooled in the Australian capital and played four seasons at the Brumbies before upping sticks and trying his luck in Ireland, the birthplace of his mother. Hansen's rise over the last four years has been little short of meteoric with 12 tries in 28 tests for Ireland, a trip to the World Cup in 2023, and now his selection to the Lions squad taking him back to his hometown. "It's incredible," Hansen told reporters in Canberra on Monday. "It's a bit of a pinch-me moment, not in my wild dreams could I imagine I'd be back here playing for the Lions. So it's very special." Hansen said about 30 friends and family members would be in the crowd at Canberra Stadium on Wednesday, just as he was as a teenager when the Brumbies beat the Lions 14-12 on the 2013 tour. There will be two old friends on the pitch as well in the shape of the Lonergan brothers, Brumbies scrumhalf Ryan and hooker Lachlan. "I grew up playing against them my whole life, so it'll be nice," Hansen said. "They're two of my best mates, especially, and I haven't played against them in a while. So that'll be a nice little switch up." Ryan Lonergan, who will captain the Brumbies on Wednesday, was also be looking forward to catching up with a friend he has not seen since his departure for Ireland. "He was just chasing opportunity, really. We had pretty set sort of back three here at the time," he told reporters on Tuesday. "He just sort of took a stab and went overseas and we're all happy for him. As a good friend you sort of want to see him go and make the most of his opportunity and he's done that. "Still been a character like I know he is. So, super happy for him and excited to see him." Hansen has already played against the Wallabies for Ireland and no longer feels he has anything to prove on the rugby side to the country that let him get away. He is unsure, however, how he will feel running out against the Brumbies. "It's going to be interesting," he said. "I think ... it won't be till afterwards, I'll be able to sort of take it all in."
Reuters
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Brumbies brothers eye another famous Lions upset
MELBOURNE, July 8 (Reuters) - The Lonergan brothers will look to help the ACT Brumbies pull off another improbable win over the British & Irish Lions on Wednesday, 12 years after cheering from the terraces as the Super Rugby team stunned the touring side in Canberra. Scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan, 27, captains the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium while his 25-year-old brother Lachlan, capped eight times for Australia, starts at hooker against Andy Farrell's men. The Brumbies became the first provincial team to beat the Lions in 16 years when World Cup-winning coach Jake White orchestrated a 14-12 win over Warren Gatland's side in 2013. "I still remember it. I think I was sitting over there somewhere when I was a little fella," Ryan Lonergan told reporters on Tuesday, gesturing at the southern end of Canberra Stadium. "Pretty sure (Lachlan) was probably eating a pie or something. "When we got up over the Lions, (it was) such a memorable moment even as a fan. "So to be able to do it tomorrow as a player (would be) super special and the boys are really excited." The Brumbies draw pride from their record against the Lions. In 2001, they came close to beating Graham Henry's side with only a late Matt Dawson conversion lifting the Lions to a 30-28 win. Stephen Larkham was assistant coach to White during the 2013 upset and as the Brumbies' current head coach will guide a similarly understrength team on Wednesday. Most of their best players are at the Wallabies camp with Joe Schmidt, preparing for the July 19 series-opener against the Lions in Brisbane. One Wallaby will be starting for the Brumbies, though, just three days after coming off the bench in the 21-18 win over Fiji in Newcastle. The abrasive Tom Hooper will be starting blindside flanker, while his 21-year-old brother Lachlan, also a loose forward, has a chance to make his Brumbies debut off the bench. "Hoops, he's a machine," Lonergan said of the 24-year-old Wallaby. "So I'm sure he probably would have played 80 (minutes) and he would have been keen to come back and play. "Special night for him as well to be able to play alongside his brother." Long Australia's best-performing team in Super Rugby, the Brumbies will be tasked with softening up a Lions selection that may be the closest to Farrell's side for the first test. On paper, the Brumbies are massively outgunned but their players have taken note of how the lightly-regarded New South Wales Waratahs proved disruptive in a 21-10 defeat by the Lions in Sydney on Saturday. "Nobody gave them a shot and they made it a really uncomfortable night for the lads," said Lonergan. "They went really hard at the breakdown .... sort of made a mess of it there and if you can do that and disrupt their game a bit, I think it goes a long way to putting yourself in the fight."
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Brumbies braced for Hansen's trash talk
Ryan Lonergan and his brother Lachlan are both part of the Brumbies line-up [Getty Images] Brumbies captain Ryan Lonergan says that he is expecting plenty of trash talk from Lions wing Mack Hansen as he returns to his native Canberra. Hansen left the Brumbies in 2021 to play for Connacht and made his debut for Ireland, who he qualifies for through his mother, a few months later. Advertisement "Super special to be able to go up against Mack, I'm sure he'll be talking heaps of [rubbish] as he always does," said Lonergan, using a slightly stronger term than 'rubbish'. "We've been great mates since we're about 12 really. Really looking forward to catching up with him, haven't seen him since he went." Like Hansen, Lonergan was in the stands of the GIO Stadium as a fan when the Brumbies beat the Lions in 2013. "I still remember it. I think I was sitting over there somewhere as a little fella when we got up over the Lions," Lonergan added. "Such a memorable moment, even as a fan, so to be able to do it tomorrow as a player [is] super special and the boys are really excited."
CNA
08-07-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Brumbies brothers eye another famous Lions upset
MELBOURNE :The Lonergan brothers will look to help the ACT Brumbies pull off another improbable win over the British & Irish Lions on Wednesday, 12 years after cheering from the terraces as the Super Rugby team stunned the touring side in Canberra. Scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan, 27, captains the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium while his 25-year-old brother Lachlan, capped eight times for Australia, starts at hooker against Andy Farrell's men. The Brumbies became the first provincial team to beat the Lions in 16 years when World Cup-winning coach Jake White orchestrated a 14-12 win over Warren Gatland's side in 2013. "I still remember it. I think I was sitting over there somewhere when I was a little fella," Ryan Lonergan told reporters on Tuesday, gesturing at the southern end of Canberra Stadium. "Pretty sure (Lachlan) was probably eating a pie or something. "When we got up over the Lions, (it was) such a memorable moment even as a fan. "So to be able to do it tomorrow as a player (would be) super special and the boys are really excited." The Brumbies draw pride from their record against the Lions. In 2001, they came close to beating Graham Henry's side with only a late Matt Dawson conversion lifting the Lions to a 30-28 win. Stephen Larkham was assistant coach to White during the 2013 upset and as the Brumbies' current head coach will guide a similarly understrength team on Wednesday. Most of their best players are at the Wallabies camp with Joe Schmidt, preparing for the July 19 series-opener against the Lions in Brisbane. One Wallaby will be starting for the Brumbies, though, just three days after coming off the bench in the 21-18 win over Fiji in Newcastle. The abrasive Tom Hooper will be starting blindside flanker, while his 21-year-old brother Lachlan, also a loose forward, has a chance to make his Brumbies debut off the bench. "Hoops, he's a machine," Lonergan said of the 24-year-old Wallaby. "So I'm sure he probably would have played 80 (minutes) and he would have been keen to come back and play. "Special night for him as well to be able to play alongside his brother." Long Australia's best-performing team in Super Rugby, the Brumbies will be tasked with softening up a Lions selection that may be the closest to Farrell's side for the first test. On paper, the Brumbies are massively outgunned but their players have taken note of how the lightly-regarded New South Wales Waratahs proved disruptive in a 21-10 defeat by the Lions in Sydney on Saturday. "Nobody gave them a shot and they made it a really uncomfortable night for the lads," said Lonergan. "They went really hard at the breakdown .... sort of made a mess of it there and if you can do that and disrupt their game a bit, I think it goes a long way to putting yourself in the fight."
