Lions star hails Marcus Smith after admitting "maybe he's a bit of a "*****"

Daily Mirror

6 hours ago

The British and Irish Lions have just enjoyed their first week together and Mack Hansen has hailed the personal qualities of Marcus Smith whilst acknowledging what the outside perception might be
Marcus Smith has been hailed as "an absolute gent" by British and Irish Lions team-mate Mack Hansen after their first week in camp together - after admitting some onlookers may see him as "a little bit of a *****"
A bulk of the squad have just been prepping in Portugal before heading to Dublin ahead of Friday's opening game. Smith and Hansen will have crossed paths on the pitch when England play Ireland, but otherwise will have had minimal interaction.
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The squad was players from four nations come together and head coach Andy Farrell urged his players to offer feedback on their team-mates.
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He called on Hansen, the Ireland and Connacht winger, to give his thoughts on an individual before he highlighted the qualities of the England and Harlequins fly-half. Smith has long been lauded for his highlight reel-worthy performances.
Smith is also open to the off pitch success the sport brings and his flashy image, as well as his link-up with talent company Roc Nation, has fed a narrative that Hansen insists is not true.
He said on the Ultimate Test YouTube video: "Mine's a little different, I've always thought Marcus is an incredible player and then since coming in here the last couple of days that we've spent together I've got to know him as a person and everything and I think he's an absolute gent.
"Like I said I always knew he was a great player and when you look at him you could think that maybe he's a little bit of a *****, but he's actually a great bloke. So I've gained a lot of respect for him from that, I think he's a really genuine person."
England and now Lions captain Maro Itoje was also called upon to give his thoughts and he singled out Tommy Freeman for particular praise. The Northampton winger has continued to blossom with Itoje citing his stellar performance in the recent European Cup final.
Another Englishman in Jack van Poortvliet has been called up to train with the Lions after Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park suffered a minor glute strain, which is not thought to be serious, but will hamper him in the lead up to the Argentina game on Friday night.
Van Poortvliet flew to Dublin on Tuesday morning to help the team prepare. He joins Jamie George and Asher Opoku-Fordjour who weren't named in the initial squad but have made up the numbers recently.