Conor Murray: Why Mack Hansen could be key to Ireland’s World Cup ambitions

Let’s talk about Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and Robert Baloucoune. All three members of the Ireland back field touched the ball for the first of Hugo’s hat-trick against Argentina last Friday.

Sam Prendergast executed a familiar loop play and fed Baloucoune, who powered into the space and condensed Argentina’s defence before giving Hansen a standing start 1v1 against his opposite man.

Mack was tackled and falling to ground when he overarmed a pass for Keenan to finish.

Irish rugby has produced electric wingers before. Stylish, gritty players like Keith Earls and Luke Fitzgerald.

Amazingly, Hansen was barely mapped growing up in Australia. He used to be an outhalf. That is important to note. Brought over by Connacht’s former Aussie coach Andy Friend, Andy Farrell quickly identified an unorthodox player who can transform a game.

Baloucoune is Ireland’s answer to Louis Bielle-Biarrey, with his explosive pace, and Keenan possesses all the skills required to play fullback at the highest level. But Hansen is the difference between a move running aground and five early points on the board.

He likes to pop up at first receiver, particularly on the short side, which means the defence cannot laser-in on Prendergast. This gives Jamison Gibson-Park two outhalf options.

Ireland did not appear to miss Hansen when he had a foot injury last year. Tommy O’Brien and Baloucoune went to town on England at Twickenham while Jamie Osborne did a good job covering for the injured Keenan.

But all three of them together against Argentina - Keenan, Hansen and Baloucoune – looked as essential to Ireland’s World Cup ambitions as the lineout, where Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan and Ryan Baird are figuring it out. As important as Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong in the scrums.

Mack and Baird feel like new signings in what has been an encouraging start to a Nations Championship that only gets more challenging.

It’s already been an interesting week. On Wednesday, I returned to St Munchin’s College to film The Keys To My Life for RTÉ. I can report that the rugby programme at my alma mater is in good shape. Indirectly, I presume, the lure of hurling led to only 16 boys at SCT training a few years ago. But Munchin’s made the Munster schools final last March only to be well beaten by Pres Cork.

I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg, but Munster’s steady dip since the 2000s and the decline of Limerick schools and clubs has to be a major concern for the IRFU.

[ Hugo Keenan showed exactly why he represents the best of this Ireland teamOpens in new window ]

Just as Joe Schmidt is doing a deep dive on the Ulster system, repairing the Munster pathways must be a priority if Ireland are to remain at the top of the international game.

Work is underway to arrest the decline. Rugby schools in Cork are appointing directors of rugby, similar to the traditional Leinster nurseries.

Like any system, there are flaws. The IRFU performance director David Humphreys is attempting to address them. Leinster have to cover more of the salaries of their players on national contracts. The money saved by HQ is being rerouted to enhance the pathways in the other provinces.

More than ever before, Leinster cannot afford to stand still. Peter Smyth returned from the IRFU to oversee the Academy and the province struck PR gold last week by releasing the names of 30 contracted players to AIL clubs.

Lansdowne v Clontarf had 12 professionals on the Aviva Stadium’s back pitch. Old Belvedere v Terenure was a chance to see the Austrian outhalf Caspar Gabriel. Gus McCarthy went from UCD v Old Wesley at the Belfield Bowl to Ireland training in Abbotstown.

The news of Leinster players being released to the clubs revived an old Munster WhatsApp group. ‘Any sign of you lads playing AIL this weekend?’ None of the responses can be published.

The infusion of professionals into the AIL can only be good for business (especially for the gate and clubhouse bar). Also, academy boys need to learn how to handle older heads. On the grass. Not in the gym.

Fine-tuning the entire system under Humphreys got me thinking this week about how dominant Fiji would be if they had similar pathways.

Jake White brings a collection of enormous, highly skilled athletes to the Aviva on Saturday night to test Ireland ahead of next week’s visit of the Springboks.

France v South Africa, on Friday night in Paris, feels like a preview of the 2027 World Cup final. The way France made light work of Fiji and the ‘Boks steamrolled New Zealand during the summer makes this number one in the world versus number two.

I haven’t seen the actual rankings, but the All Blacks are number three, Ireland four and England five.

Ireland will probably lose a few bodies absorbing Fiji’s power game before their structured approach gets the job done. If Fiji were not at such a disadvantage to the centrally contracted IRFU, South Africa, New Zealand and even France’s streamlined relationship with their Top 14 clubs, they’d have won a few World Cups by now.

Instead, we can rattle off a load of Fijian magicians who will not feature this month as they are contracted to Japanese or French clubs, or they have been recruited as teenagers by France, Australia and New Zealand.

It’s a familiar lament.

All that Humphreys and the IRFU can do is mind their own patch. Fund the coaching in schools and trust in Smyth to revive the Leinster pathways so Noel McNamara has a soft landing when he arrives from Bordeaux to replace Leo Cullen next summer.

Anyway, next stop on The Keys To My Life is Carton House, a home from home over a 14-year Ireland career.

Before that, I’ll be watching how Antoine Dupont performs at 10 against South Africa.

If any country can win three straight world cups it is South Africa under Rassie Erasmus. If any country can stop them, it is Fabien Galthie’s France, albeit with Matthieu Jalibert or Romain Ntamack at outhalf. If they can regain fitness.

Like Ireland, South Africa and France have continuity of coaching. I wonder if Galthie is inventing a new double-scrumhalf-approach with Dupont and Maxime Lucu that might evolve the game similar to Rassie’s seven-one split of forwards and backs on the bench.

Or Dupont will, once again, prove that he is the greatest rugby player on the planet by running the show from outhalf.

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