Ireland star Mack Hansen reveals raw emotion of British and Irish Lions selection as player admits it was all too much
CONNACHT ace Mack Hansen has revealed that he broke down in tears after hearing his name called for the British and Irish Lions squad.
The
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Andy Farrell surprised a lot of fans and pundits by naming Mack Hansen in the Lions squad
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The Ireland and Connacht winger admitted that he was bawling after the announcement
The winger admitted that he's a big fan of the
But he says the wait to find out was almost unbearable, so he decided to go for a swim to ease his nerves during the announcement at the O2 Arena in London.
Speaking with former Ireland stars Tommy Bowe and Donncha O'Callaghan on their
"Then when I came back, they finally started reading the names,"
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"And then once my name was read out, I just started bawling crying straight away. It's one of the best feelings I've ever had in my entire life.
"Tears were flowing, mate. Absolutely flowing. And I called my mum back straight away, and they were very much the same. Like, it was, yeah, incredible."
Hansen insisted he has no idea that he would be name on the touring side, despite some sceptics.
He added: "Genuinely, nobody has an idea. So many people since the announcement were like, 'surely they were given a heads-up'. But we just don't know, and it could go either way. I mean, it just does make it that little bit more special.
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"I think it's really cool, and it's obviously very exciting. But at the same time, I just wanted to know.
"I would have loved a little message just saying, 'yeah', like a thumbs up going, you're in. And then you can actually enjoy it."
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Hansen says he previously tried to ring boss Andy Farrell during a night out with
The winger said: "I thought it would be a great idea to ring Faz and a couple of the staff and have a chat to them.
"Faz didn't pick up, and in typical fashion, he didn't reply. I messaged him in the morning to say sorry for calling but he didn't message me back.
"When I got his face tattooed on me, he opened the pic I sent and then didn't reply for like three hours.
"And then he comes back going, 'oh, mate, I love it, it's great'. And I was like, why didn't you just reply to me straight away then?"
When asked why Farrell resonates so strongly with his players, Hansen had high praise for the Lions and Ireland head coach.
"The best way to describe it is just that he just gets it. He just gets everything."
Hansen went on to add that Farrell's speeches and motivational skills are incredible.
The Lions boss is infamous for his 'hurt arena' speech during the 2013 tour vs Australia.
He added: "You get some amount of energy off Faz's speeches or just him being around the place."
Ireland players included in Andy Farrell's Lions squad:
Jamison Gibson-Park
Garry Ringrose
Bundee Aki
James Lowe
Mack Hansen
Dan Sheehan
Josh van der Flier
Jack Conan
Tadhg Beirne
Tadhg Furlong
Andrew Porter
Hugo Keenan
Ronan Kelleher
Joe McCarthy
James Ryan
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