Mack Hansen’s sensational finish saw him earn his second consecutive Guinness Six Nations Player of the Match award as Ireland kept their Grand Slam hopes alive with a 22-7 over Scotland.
Trailing after an unusually slow start to a Scotland team putting everything on the line on Stuart Hogg’s 100th cap, Hansen’s try proved to be the catalyst for a hard-fought win as Ireland get closer to a first Grand Slam in five years.
Hansen racked up 84 metres in 11 carries, offloading twice and assisting for Jack Conan’s try while also making two turnovers to win the Player of the Match award once again.
The Ireland winger confirmed that Andy Farrell’s side were never fazed even when failing to score inside the first ten minutes, something that has become a trademark having done so in nine of their previous ten matches.
Hansen said: “We knew this was going to be near enough our toughest game of the year, coming to BT Murrayfield is no easy feat.
“To be fair to the Scotland lads, they really showed up, it is all the clichés, but they really did, that was a tough Test match, and that is all we came for really.
“We went in and we said this is exactly why we want to be playing footy lads, this is why we want to be doing what we are doing.
“We won’t go in worried, we knew what we could do and we came out firing, we did not have the start we wanted, we are normally such a fast-starting team, so we thought alright we’ll turn it on in the second half instead.”
The win was made all the more impressive due to the sheer number of injuries suffered by Farrell’s side, with Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher and Iain Henderson all going off injured inside the first 50 minutes.
That saw Cian Healy packing down at hooker, showing the resilience of the team, while Hansen himself believes it once again highlights the depth Ireland now have.
“We lost some really key players, hopefully they are alright for next week, but it just shows our depth,” he added.
“I don’t know if Church (Cian Healy) has ever gone to hooker before in 200 and something games, so it just shows how versatile we are and how much depth we have in this squad – it is a great team to be a part of.”
