Mack Hansen revelled in Ireland’s Grand Slam party, but admits the magnitude of the occasion was almost too much to handle against England.
Hansen scored three tries in Ireland’s five games and impressed once again against Steve Borthwick’s side, as the hosts fought to a 29-16 win that sealed the title and their fourth Grand Slam.
With England bruised from their heavy Round 4 defeat against France, and Ireland unbeaten at home in 13 games prior to kick-off, the hosts were red-hot favourites to win.
But with expectation comes pressure, and Hansen certainly felt it.
“Very, very, very nervous,” he said.
“I was taking some tablets before the game so I didn’t c**p myself, I was very nervous.
“I think everyone was, and I think you could kind of see then in the way we were playing. That’s something for us to improve on, so for now we’re going to enjoy this.”
The scenes at full-time were special, with the crowd lapping up Ireland’s first Grand Slam in Dublin – and against England on St.Patrick’s weekend to boot.
“It’s different gravy, isn’t it. It’s like something I’ve never seen before, it’s incredible. It just shows how much Ireland is behind us, and we love it,” Hansen added.
“[It’s] absolutely amazing, it’s hard to put into words at the moment. It’s a crazy feeling. It’s just been such an atmosphere, it’s crazy.”
It was far from a cruise for Ireland, even after England went down to 14 men when Freddie Steward was sent off.
It was only in the last quarter of the game that Ireland pulled away and flanker Josh van der Flier hailed their togetherness for pulling through.
“I feel so much pride to play for this country and to do it with this group is incredible,” he said.
“This support has been unbelievable throughout and it is nice to do it for them and their families at home as well.
“England were brilliant, full credit to them. It is tough going down with the red card but they made it incredibly tough for us in the second half but full credit to the lads, they pulled it through. They deserve credit for a good game but it feels great to come out with the win obviously.
“There was a lot of pressure obviously, everyone talking about the win and the Grand Slam. It is incredible.
“I was trying not to enjoy it out there and focus but there were a few times you could hear the crowd singing Fields of Athenry and going mad. It is special, some very special moments.”
