Wing Mack Hansen says he could not have imagined returning to the Brumbies as a British and Irish Lion “in my wildest dreams”.
Hansen, whose mother is Irish, left Canberra in 2021 after 21 appearances for the Brumbies to sign for Connacht, making his Ireland debut a few months later.
As a 15-year-old however, he was in the stands supporting his hometown club as they inflicted the Lions’ first defeat of their 2013 tour of Australia.
On Wednesday he will take his place on the bench at the same venue – the city’s GIO Stadium – as a replacement for the Lions’ toughest match down under so far.
“It’s incredible,” said Hansen.
“It is a bit of a pinch-me moment – not in my wildest dreams could I imagine I would be back here playing for the Lions, so it is very special.”
The fixture pits Hansen against his former team-mates, brothers and current friends Ryan and Lachlan Lonergan, who will be at scrum-half and hooker for the Brumbies respectively.
“I grew up playing against them my whole life. It will be nice – they are two of my best mates,” added Hansen.
“To play against them again, after not doing so for a while, will be a nice little switch-up.”
The Brumbies were the strongest of all the Australian provinces in this year’s Super Rugby competition and, while they are without Wallabies such as Noah Lolesio, Len Ikitau and Tom Wright, Lions coach Andy Farrell is thought to have named something close to his Test 23.
Hansen says that ensuring he is part of the Test series, which begins in Brisbane on 19 July, is uppermost in his mind.
“It is obviously special to be playing this game, but the ones you want to be putting your name towards are the Tests,” he said.
“That is what I will be focused on.”
Hansen started the wins over Western Force and the Waratahs, and came off the bench in the defeat by Argentina in Dublin.
England’s Tommy Freeman and Hansen’s Ireland team-mate James Lowe have been named as the starting wings against the Brumbies.
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