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Mack Hansen after the match.Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Lions boss Farrell hails McCarthy, Hansen after Australian tour opener

The Ireland pair both staked claims for a Test spot.

10.36am, 29 Jun 2025

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HENRY POLLOCK MIGHT have hogged the limelight in the British and Irish Lions Australian tour opener, but coach Andy Farrell was equally impressed with Ireland pair Joe McCarthy and Mack Hansen, who both staked claims for a Test spot.

Hulking English back-rower Pollock, 20, lived up to the hype in Perth, helping the tourists to an emphatic 54-7 win over Western Force on Saturday.

While he put himself in the shop window for a Test call-up, playing a part in two of the Lions’ eight tries, it was McCarthy who claimed man-of-the-match honours.

The tireless Irish lock’s fingerprints were all over the game, making key defensive plays and powering over for a well-earned five-pointer.

It put him in pole position to claim a contested tight five slot in the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on 19 July.

“He just stays in the game the whole time,” Farrell said of McCarthy.

“He’s a lot more composed in what he does but at the same time he’s never wavered in the intent within his game.

“In the set-piece, you saw him come away through the maul, stealing the ball, running down the wing and cutting back inside, looking for offloads and going through rucks and being the force that he is.

“He’s developing his all-round game and he’ll only grow from here on in.”

Farrell also had high praise for Irish winger Hansen, who had an ordinary first-half but came alive in the second.

“I mean there were some fantastic tries, but the play of the day by a country mile was Mack Hansen,” he said.

“Back and forward, full length of the field, fighting for his team on his own, that’s what a Lion should 100% do for his team.”

While noting some flashes of individual brilliance in the first game of their nine-match tour, Farrell also pinpointed teething problems to fix before their next match against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday.

He highlighted ill-discipline, with six penalties conceded in the first-half before they got in their groove after the break.

“Happy with the scoreline and happy with how we actually got to that point because it wasn’t all going our own way,” said Farrell.

“We gathered ourselves well and sorted a few things out on the run and played some nice rugby in the end.

“We had more composure (in the second-half), we were less desperate,” he added.

“We gave a good few penalties away through a lack of discipline certainly… once we stopped giving them the field position and territory they wanted, I felt we defended really well and we were composed enough to score some nice tries.”

– © AFP 2025

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