'People forget we recently beat New Zealand twice in a row' – Mack Hansen fires back at critics

11/12/2024 04:32 AM

Not having it.

Ireland winger Mack Hansen has fired back at critics following his side’s defeat to the All Blacks last Friday at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

The men in green suffered a 23-13 defeat at the hands of Scott Robertson’s side with Ireland’s massive penalty count on the night proving to be costly.

Ahead of the game, the hype behind the rivalry between the two nations was huge but many people have branded the rivalry now ‘dead’ following Friday’s defeat, coupled with New Zealand’s victory at last year’s Rugby World Cup.

But Mack Hansen isn’t having it…

"I've seen some things and people saying the [Kiwi] rivalry is dead," Hansen said.

"But people forget we recently beat them twice in a row and the rivalry wasn't dead then, was it? They've got the last two but we have a good win rate over them.

"People are always very eager to jump on you when you're down. It's like in South Africa, nobody gave them a hope after the first test.

"And what happens? They come back and win it. That's the best thing about this group. The outside noise is outside noise and nobody knows what goes in here, how hard we work and how resilient we are.

"People can chat away. The people who know us know, unfortunately, it was one of those weeks but we're ready to bounce back."

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